Bloody Nightmares
by Galistar07water
Summary: A series of strange nightmares are tying Kouichi inexplicably with a series of gruesome murders,and both twins are plagued with feelings of frightening deja vu. The secret to both mysteries may lie in their memories, but can the two free themselves first?
1. Prologue: The Curse of the Vampire's Red

_**Bloody Nightmares**_

_**By Galistar07**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Frontier.**_

_**Note: This is a revised version. This story is rated T for bloody violence, combat violence, a few coarse languages and minor sensualities.**_

_**Bloody Nightmares**_

_**Prologue: The Curse of the Vampire's Red Moon**_

"_**Where there is Light, there is Darkness,**_

_**Where there is Darkness, there is Light.**_

_**I sense it in his soul, I see it in his eyes,**_

_**I know it in his mind, I feel it in his heart.**_

_**Much that was once love is now gone,**_

_**For only hatred, jealousy, and darkness linger.**_

_**The moon is bathed in crimson blood,**_

_**The Beginning of Darkness…The Beginning of a Curse,**_

_**The Beginning of it all…**_

_Blood…so much…blood. There was blood everywhere._

_My hands are stained with dark, crimson blood. But they're not just anyone's blood. Although my hands are red, the blood was not of my own. No. My hands…they were stained…with the blood of my own brother. No, I didn't try to stop the bleeding at the time. I didn't try to save him. I didn't try to help him. Instead of helping my brother, I tried to kill him. Yes, I tried to kill my younger brother. My own twin._

_The celestial night sky was darkened by white, wispy clouds as they blocked most of the stars, preventing them from shining in the night. With the stars out, we only had the large moon disk lighting the earth, but unlikely before, the moon was bathed in a crimson red color. It was if the moon was a giant drop of blood floating in the heaven above us, mocking the two of us while the trees whisper to each other in the night. I kneel in front of the tombstone of my deceased mother, clutching my younger brother's injured, bleeding body in my arms._

_As I sat there with my brother, his blood continued to stain my hands and robes. A knife was stabbed into his chest, its blade inches away from his heart, desperately beating furiously as it tries to pump enough blood for him to survive. The pain caused him to gasp air into his desperate lungs, forcing him to cough up blood. Because my cruel action, my brother had suffered the piercing blow of my treachery. But despite all of this, it felt as though it is my heart that was the one pierced. Pierced by my own evil. My inner demon. My dark entity._

_As I looked down at the pitiful form that is my brother, he smiles weakly at me. It caught me off guard instantly_. Why is he smiling? _I wondered._ _How can my twin be smiling at me after all that I had done? How could he smiled at me like that after all the terrible crimes that I had committed?_

_My brother coughs again and blood continued to spatter on my shirt. The coughing fits broke that previous smile of his on his face as a series of painful expressions took over. As I looked down at his now pitiful form, I wept._ _"I am so sorry. It's my fault. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be like this. I am so—"_

_His fingers touched my lips before I could continue. When he let go, I could see my brother stilling struggling to smile weakly at me. It continued to surprise me. After all the pain that I had caused him, he had forgiven me so easily._

_"Big brother…" he said weakly, his voice barely a whisper. "It's n-not your fault. S-so p-please…don't cry."_

_"No! Don't talk, Ja—no, little brother, please hang on! I can't lose you!" I sobbed pathetically, but my brother kept smiling at me and touched my hand with his. Oh, how his simple gesture of forgiveness pierced my heart even more. Normally, my twin ever smiles as gently like this. It just wasn't in his character to do so, especially not around others. The only time he had ever smiled so sweetly was when we were alone, on our first birthday together after so many years of being apart. I can remember it as though it was just yesterday, but still, I can't help but knowing how much it hurts now._ My brother, please don't leave me again. Not now…not after all this time. Not because of this!

_For a moment, there was a deadly silence all around us, saved for the wind dancing between the whispering leaves of the dark trees. Here we are in the village's main necropolis. The castle and the village glistened silently and mildly a few miles away, but here it was dark and deathly. But we are not entirely alone. Around us were the pale ghostly figures of the dead. Among them were the sad and somber faces of my fiancée, the princess; my ancestors, including my deceased grandmother; and the poor victims who had fallen victims to my cruelty and laid dying at my feet not many days ago. The pale spirits of this graveyard whispered all around us, discussing of my evil doings in hushed whispers. I could sense their anger and their pity even though I could not hear what they're saying. Some of the faces that I knew, like my fiancée, and the queen, looked at me sadly in death. Some were being pitiful as they got closer, saying that it won't be much longer until my twin joins them. Until he goes with them, they said. As they linger a bit closer, I held my injured brother closer to me, backing away against my mother's grave._

_"NO! Stay away!" I shouted at them as though my command would drive them away. It did a little, but only so. I leaned over my brother protectively to guard his spirit from their grasp. But in my heart, it knows that it will not be of any help, for it knows that these pale ghosts aren't powerful enough to lure my brother's soul to the other side of the Bridge._

_My eyes darted from ghost to ghost until it rested on one that is truly not transparent. Not anymore. I can see _**him**_ now. That monster, that creature, that dark entity to blame for all of our sufferings. It's that demon!_

_"Dusk!" I hissed coldly as though the taste of that damn name burns my tongue with its bitterness and hatred. "Dusk, you bastard! This is your doing. It's your fault! You made me hurt my own brother!" I spat._

_In the crowd of the gathering spirits, one figure was dark; a sharp and violent contrast from the other pale, white ghosts. His name is Dusk, the Vampire of the Red Moon. He stepped forward and out of the crowd with a sickening smirk of satisfaction on his face even though his prey was nearly lost._

_"My fault?" Dusk whispered in a cold and sickening voice that freezes my courage to nothing but stone. "No, my dear boy. If it's anyone's fault, it's yours and only yours. It was you who made the choice and went along with it. What I've done was what you agreed. And nothing you can do know can stop me. No one can. Not your little friends, and certainly not that witch of a woman who dared to call herself the Oracle." He licked his lips devilishly as he slowly glided ever so closely to us._

_"No!" I cried, holding my brother's fragile form ever closer. He winced in pain from the movement, but I was too busy focusing on the approaching monster. I can't let Dusk lay a fang on him. "Don't come any closer! Stay back!" But Dusk only smiled his evil smile and laughed at my attempt to resist him. With each step he took, my heart beats faster and faster with anxiety and fear._ No! I can't…I won't let him have my brother!

_But it was no use. Dusk was getting closer and closer with every second and there was no place to run nor hide. I searched desperately around, but there is nowhere to go. Even if I can flee, I wouldn't be strong enough to fully carry my brother to safety. Nor can I outrun Dusk, a vampire who possesses such great feats of strength and speed and for God knows what other powers he possessed._

_"The moon is now red and crimson as blood, my favorite," Dusk taunted in his horribly quiet, calm voice. "And once I drink the last drop of your precious brother's blood, my life will be secured and my power will rise to heights as you have never imagined. And no one, absolutely no one, not even that witch of an Oracle can stop me. This will truly be a night of high feasting for me."_

_The wind blew and whispered secrets and plea for me to escaped. As I complied, I was able to drag myself and my brother to the base of a nearby oak tree. I sat there with his near-lifeless body in my arms._ This is my entire fault. I couldn't protect him. I couldn't protect my brother.

_I sat there and wept, and yet, my brother was still smiling at me sadly and painfully. It only stops every time he winced from the searing pain of his injuries. I only wished that there was some way to ease his pain. As a reflex, I reached out and brushed a part of his hair from his face and ran my fingers through them as he and Mother would have done to me before._

_"Little brother, I am so s-sorry," I whispered, my voice choked up through tears as they came down and brushed my cold cheeks. "I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you. I'm…I'm just not strong enough. I—"_

_I stopped as my brother placed a finger between my trembling lips. "It's not your fault, big brother, so p-please…d-don't cry…" his voice was so faint that I could barely hear him. "Stop blaming yourself...you were never...to blame for any of this...if it's anyone else, I'm...also...guilty as well..."_

_"How very touching, but I believed that his time is almost up," Dusk laughed._

_I looked up to glare right into his cold, red eyes, determined not to show him my fear. My eyes were burning with venomous hatred for this demon. How I want to kill him. How I just want to run my dagger across that disgusting smiling face of his and cut the rest of his limbs apart and discard them for the dogs to eat. I wanted him gone. I wanted him to die on the spot and leave me and my brother here in peace. But that could never happen._

_"Ah, can you smell it, boy?" Dusk said as he took in a whiff of the air, his voice as cold as his black heart, but I could only hold my brother closer as he approached us. He red eyes were laughing as his face displayed a sign of savage pleasure. "That's the sweet smell of fresh royal blood…and soon, it will run through my veins and I will live another century more. And it's all because of your help."_

_I growled viciously, curling up over my brother. "Go to hell, you bastard!"_

_Dusk didn't seem to notice my cursing as he continued to speak. "I must thank you for helping me for the past few weeks. Without you, I would never have achieved my goal." Dusk licked his lips like a hungry lion who's about to pounce on its prey. "Now, if you don't mind, I'll be finishing my meal."_

_"Fine!" said my brother, trying his hardest to sit up. It was painful doing so, I could see that he was still breathing heavily as he coughed up more drops of blood, staining not just my clothes, but his as well. But at this moment, none of us could care less._

_"No, brother!" I gasped. "Please, don't move!"_

_But my plea did nothing as my twin gave Dusk a menacing glare in vain as an attempt to challenge him. "Do what you want with me but leave my brother out of this!"_

_This only gave Dusk more delight as he laughed maniacally. "Foolish boy," he replied. "I believed that you should be more concern for yourself rather than for your dear brother, as he is of no use to me anymore." He paused. "But then again…"_

_The vampire stopped right in front of us, bending down to run a finger through my brother's hair and pale cheek seductively. This gesture of his only infuriated me even more as I tried to shove his hand away. Dusk looked at me with those cold, red eyes of his and laughed again. They were as stone cold as the darkness that lurks in his black heart, chilling my bones and making my skin crawl. "But then again, perhaps there is something here that I could keep alive."_

_Suddenly, Dusk had his hands around my brother's neck. Automatically, my twin tried to pry loose his perpetrator's hands as he began to choke, coughing up a few drops of blood in the process, this time, staining the grass as well._

_"Hold still, boy," Dusk hissed. "This won't take very long. Might as well say good-bye to your brother for this is the last time that you'll ever see him alive. After this, he shall become my personal slave. Now give me your blood and the Galis Star!"_

_I couldn't sit there and watch this demon kill my brother! I tried to pry Dusk's hands off of my brother's neck, but Dusk was just too strong for me. For only a second, he let go of one hand and knocked me away with such strength that it sent a shock into my bones. I tried to get up but couldn't as a searing pain shot up on my right ankle. To prevent any further attempts of interference, Dusk had made sure to break my ankle the seconds his hand was free. I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything. I could only lay there helpless while watching Dusk choked my brother to death._

_"No! N-no, please, let him go!" I begged pathetically._

_After a few moments, I continued to sob and tried to stand, but my broken ankle prevented me from doing so. Seconds ticked by as I lay there meters away helpless, watching Dusk taking pleasure in torturing us. Suddenly, he stopped choking my brother and my brother stopped trying to fight back and lay there, his body motionless._

_"Brother!" I cried, terrified that he wouldn't answer me. "Please, say something!" I turned to face Dusk, but I wasn't humiliated to let him see me cry in desperation. "He's not…dead. H-he can't be dead…"_

_"Of course he isn't, boy. At least not yet," Dusk replied coolly. "I like to drink from my prey fresh. After all, clotted blood is entirely unappetizing. Now say good-bye forever, boy, for soon the royal blood will be mine as well as the Galis Star!"_

_Taking out a finger, he picked a vein that became visible as soon as both skin and nail made contact. Dusk gently ran his finger around it as he aimed in for the kill. He bent slowly, his white fangs bared, ready for digging them into my brother's exposed neck. I couldn't move, I couldn't interfer...couldn't help, I couldn't free myself and my brother from this_ bloody nightmare_. My heart kept hoping that our friends and guardians will appear to rescue us, the way they always had, but my heart knows that it was hopeless. They are just as much victims as we are now._

_I couldn't stop the fangs from sinking into my brother's throat. I couldn't stop them from stealing away his precious blood that gave him life…from killing him. I couldn't stopped this monster, the demon that I foolishly trusted, and soon I will be forced to serve him myself to atone for my sins._

_I couldn't do anything._

_Suddenly, there was a nudge between my fingers. My hand touches something cold and smooth in the grooves of the tree. It was a handle of a sword, finely forged in silver, its handle shaped like a wolf's head. A silver wolf—Lobo! This sword…it was a gift from him, planted here for us to find? To fight with? It sounded like something that he would do._

_But then again...it's too late now. Dusk stood up triumphantly while my brother had already stopped breathing...My brother…my twin…he's gone._

_I'm sorry, brother…_

_I'm so sorry…_

_But I'd rather die than become a slave to the Darkness…_

**I'm sorry for the confusion, but I tried to clear things up and straightening this story from now on. Please enjoy.**


	2. Of A Dream, A Legend, and A Stray

**Bloody Nightmares**

**I've decided to go back and re-edit my past chapters to make it more flowing.**

**Disclaimer:** **I don't own Digimon Frontier, the twins, or anything that has to do with it, I just have strange imagination sometimes.**

**Warning:** **This fanfiction is rated T for bloody violence, languages, and minor sensual events, so don't read if you're too young…I mean it!**

**Chapter One: Of A Dream, A Legend, and A Stray**

Somewhere in Japan's capital, Tokyo, also known as the largest city in the world a fifteen-year-old boy woke up with a start. His face was sweating as he gasped for breath. Heart pounding from the excitement, he was shocked from the dream he just had. He remembered that it was so dark and there were so much blood in it, one which he couldn't understand, terrified him to the marrow of his bones. And worst of all...it felt so real. But then again, even the most illogical things can appear real while you're dreaming. But still...

The boy, whose name is Kouichi Kimura, sat up in his bed and blinked restlessly at the blank wall opposite him. After a moment, he fell back against the softness of his pillow and closed his eyes as he tries to remember the dream.

It wasn't easy. Usually when one wakes up from a dream, they only had the first few minutes to remember it before it was gone. Rarely a person can remember the entire dream for much longer than that. In Kouichi's case, it was somewhat in between. The boy's eyes remained closed as he try his hardest to remember.

He had been standing in what appeared to be a graveyard of some sort. In the distance, Kouichi could make out the dim and foggy structure of a large stone building. It had many towers and walls. A castle of some sort, perhaps? Or was it a fortress? That he couldn't be sure.

He remembered that there were two figures on the ground, cloaked in shadows. One seemed to be injured, and he was bleeding very badly. There was another figure in shadows with him...or was it a her? Darn it! It was so dark that he couldn't tell the differences in genders of the two figures. And then...then...

Kouichi frowned and suddenly remembered seeing a group of white figures. Where they ghosts? Spirits? Or just hallucination? Maybe a mixture of all of them because he could remember hearing them whispering. Their voices where thin and faint like air but Kouichi could make them out in the very edge of his memory.

Thinking harder, Kouichi could just barely remember that there was a figure in black beginning to emerge from the throng. But unfortunately, it was too dark to make out his face…and that was the only thing that he could remember…and yet…it was strange in a way, really. Kouichi somehow felt as though, he had already have been in that graveyard before, even though he knew it was his first time seeing it in his dream. It was as though his dream was trying to tell him something…something important.

Kouichi shook his head and brushed the thought into the back of his mind as he climbed out of bed. At that moment, his mother was at his door and began to knock.

"Kouichi-kun!" said his mother. She was standing outside of his room, knocking on the door to get him out of bed. "Kouichi-kun! What are you doing in there? Come on down and eat or you'll be late for school."

"Yes, Mom. I'll be down in a moment," Kouichi replied, trying his best not to show his mother that he just had that nightmare on his mind. Tomoko Kimura was only getting better from her illness and he didn't want to worry her because of some stupid dream he had.

Kouichi quickly made his bed before changing into his day clothing, and made a quick grab for his backpack and his blue baseball hat. It was old and a bit battered, but it was his favorite since his grandmother first got it for him a few years ago. After a few minutes of brushing his teeth and washing his face, he was greeted with one his mother's warm smiles on her face once he came downstairs and into the kitchen.

It was a very lovely morning outside as a few fat sparrows landed on a nearby tree and began to sing their mid-morning songs. The first thing that struck Kouichi as soon as he entered the kitchen was the smell of flowers. His mother just loved the sweet aroma of her favorite flowers and home cooking coalesces at sunrise. She felt very active and cheerful ever since she went to see that doctor from uptown. From then on and after several weeks of treatments, Tomoko had really started to enjoy making meals for her son again and seeing his gentle satisfaction.

When Kouichi came into the kitchen and greeted her, she laughed a little bit. Confused, Kouichi's right eyebrow arched up and his mother pointed out that he had put on his shirt backward. Staring down at the tag, Kouichi blushed and disappeared behind a nearby room to change.

"My, my…" She said with a smile. "What has gotten into my little boy today?"

"Mom!" Kouichi whined, almost too childishly. He had always felt embarrassed whenever his mother started to tease him as if he was a little child. "I'm fine… I'm just a little bit…excited today, that's all. Really!"

But not even this little excuse could keep Tomoko from having the pleasure of tormenting her son a bit as she pinched and pulled on both sides of his cheek. "Is that so?" She giggled cheerfully. In truth, Kouichi wasn't really enjoying the pain in his cheeks so much as she pulled a bit harder. But not as much as seeing her ill because that would have been more dreadful. Tomoki continued to laugh and said, "Would my little baby like some snacks to take along, or maybe—"

Kouichi gently brushed her pinching hands away and cut her off. "Mom, please…I'm just a bit excited, that's all. I've never spend a whole month at Father's place before…This is just the first time for me since you're going to Osaka and all…" His words trailed out as he stared down at his rice bowl filled with vegetables and fish. Perhaps he had said too much. He probably made his mother felt as though he would rather spend his vacation with his brother than with her.

_I'm so stupid! _he thought to himself. _And just when she was feeling better, I'd had to make her feel bad…_

But instead of her usual sighs of hidden sadness, Tomoko only smiled. "Of course…I'm so sorry, Kouichi, dear. It's my fault."

Kouichi's eyes widened as he looked up at her, stunned. Her fault? No! Now looked at when he'd done. _Damn it! I could just kick myself!_ "No, Mother! It's not your fault at all!"

But Tomoko wouldn't hear of it as she held up her hand to silence him gently. "No, sweetie. You're fifteen now and I shouldn't treat you like a little kid. It's just that…I'd never left you out of my sight for so long. I'd always brought you with me to Osaka and Kyoto every summer, but this is our first time being apart. It just felt as though I didn't want to let the old days go away. I shouldn't treat you like a child anymore. You're growing up and it's time for me to learn to let you go," She stopped and placed a hand on Kouichi's shoulder.

Now Kouichi felt even guiltier in the pit of his stomach. Her words made his stomach churn and he hated the fact that it's all true. Thinking quickly, he tried to find words that might comfort them both. "Mom," he began, "if it's okay…?"

"Oh! Of course, you should finish your breakfast! You don't want to be late." Tomoko said as she got up before Kouichi could say what he wanted to say. But before he could stopped her, Tomoko got up and went upstairs to get his things for his stay at Kouji's house.

Kouichi sighed to himself and ate his breakfast quietly, thinking about the dream he had earlier. In the back of his mind, it felt like an omen…or maybe...it was all just a bad dream. This is so stupid! He was just being silly. There is just no way that dreams can fortell the future! Can it? No, of course not. Otherwise, he would be seeing some creepy looking castle right now and those things only exist in Europe since the ones here are are Japanese style. Kouichi then brushed it off after another moment of thought. He really didn't want to worry his mother. Not now, not when she's getting better and better.

* * *

After breakfast, Tomoko went to see her son out the door. She reached for a little glistening object from a nail in the wall and hand it over to Kouichi.

"Here's the spare key to the house," she instructed. "I left your suitcase in the living room. So be sure that you lock the door before going okay, dear?"

"Yes, Mom," Kouichi said gently with a smile.

"I'm going to miss my little Koukou so much," Tomoko cooed. "It wouldn't be the same going to Osaka and Kyoto without you this year." Tomoko sniffed a bit, embracing her child before departing. The way his mother used his childhood nickname reminded him of something.

"Um, Mom," Kouichi said. "If it's isn't too much trouble, could you still treat me like a child? At least for the time being?"

Tomoko smiled with happiness in her eyes as she kissed him on the forehead and hugged him for a very long time. "Have a great summer, Kouichi-kun. I'm really going to missed you. Will you promise to call me?"

"I'll call you once a week!" Kouichi peeped, giving her one of his child-like smile.

"Good," said Tomoko. "Tell your brother that I said hi. And do remind him to loosen up a bit. It'll be such a shame if he's always so serious during the summer."

"I'll keep that in mind, Mom," Kouichi replied. And with that, he went off to school.

* * *

His brother, Kouji, was waiting with Takuya were all waiting for Kouichi on the corner next to a small home-styled bakery, like they always did. The elder of the two twins realized that the entire group was there and picked up the pace to catch up with them.

"I'm sorry I'm late." Kouichi gasped as he hurried up to them. "I was just…saying goodbye to my mom. We won't be able to see each other again until the summer's over."

Takuya Kanbara, the hot-headed "leader" of the group, grinned at him. "No problem, buddy. We figured that was where you were."

"Yeah," Junpei Shibayama commented as he dug around in the brown paper bag he held in one arm, the logo indicating the very bakery they were standing beside and it said _Watanuki's Bakery and Café_. "Here, catch!" said Junpei and he tossed a loaf to his friend.

Kouichi caught the bread when it was thrown at him, and thanked their local food coinsure before he bit into the huge roll. It was a soft, fluffy and a generously large sweet bread that was still nicely warm, sticky, and fresh from the oven. On this rainy, monsoon-season summer morning, it was a nice hint of warmth before the day did that itself around noon.

The group set off down the street with Kouichi still eating, which was a good excuse for keeping quiet as they walked. Licking the glazed sugar around his lips, Kouichi listened to the others' conversation intently.

"You got to be kidding me!" Kouji scoffed.

"I'm serious, Kouji!" Izumi exclaimed, balling her hands up into fists and pulling them close to her chest excitedly. "We should get together for a thousand-ghost-stories night sometime really soon, like tonight! It's the perfect time for it, after all!"

Kouji rolled his dark, blue eyes up at the partly-cloudy blue sky. He'd never been one to take much faith or entertainment in ghost stories, but Izumi was quite fond of them. The approaching summer, with the upcoming of the _Obon_ festivals, was one of her favorite seasons of the year. She just can't get enough of them.

"But wait a second, Izumi!" Tomoki, the youngest of the group at age twelve, piped up from the head of the group. "I thought we'd already heard all of your ghost stories!"

"Yeah," Takuya grinned a bit. "It's not like you haven't told us all a million or so of them."

The blond Italian-Japanese girl scowled at them and whacked Takuya up the side of the head with her right palm. Takuya only managed to dodge it because he got the hint that it was coming. "Those are all _local_ stories! I've been doing research, you know!" she snorted. "I've gotten lots and lots of new ones from all around the world!"

"Like what?" Junpei asked, and Kouichi caught a light groan from Kouji's direction, especially as Izumi's eyes lit up.

"I just found a really great one from Europe!" Izumi was nearly squealing now, her green eyes dancing with excitement. "It's an old legend from a remote kingdom that was almost completely separated in the Dark Ages. It's about a couple of princes who accidentally killed each other many centuries ago."

"Killed?" Tomoki squeaked.

"Princes?" Takuya raised an interested eyebrow.

"A _couple_?" Kouichi spoke for the first time, lifting his eyebrows in surprise. "Like, more than one?"

Izumi's smile widened, nodding eagerly. "Yeah, a couple of twin boys back during their Dark Ages or something." Everyone else turned to glance at Kouji and Kouichi at least once when she mentioned twins as though it were some big cosmic joke. Shaking her head, Izumi continued to explain her preview excitedly. "They were, like, the sons of this powerful king or something who ruled this land during that time, so that made them princes."

"And what happened that they killed each other?" Tomoki asked, a bit breathless. Although it was just a little preview, he was already caught up in the story, as he always did. He liked them almost as much as Izumi did after all.

"Well, the history books said they killed each other," Izumi's voice had lowered into her story-teller mystery mode. "But there's a local legend from the area that says they were both murdered by someone…" Pause for effect, "or something…else."

"Some_thing_?" the boys asked curiously.

Izumi's grin widened as she paused for effect again. She could tell that Takuya, Junpei, and Tomoki were listening with strained ears before she breathed out two words. "A vampire!"

Kouji muffled what sounded like a snort. "Yeah, right."

"Well, that's what the legend says!" Izumi snapped, feeling, as always, a bit insulted whenever Kouji brushed off her stories as though they were nothing but childish fairy tales, but she soon calmed down to resume her story. "The thing is, they were both acting really weird for about a month or so before they were killed. The legend is that they came under the spell of a power-thirsty vampire lord who used them as scapegoats before killing them off himself."

"Uh-huh," Kouji muttered in his usual stoic manner, adjusting the knot on his bandana. "And the history books?"

"Well, they give the usual boring kind of explanation…" Izumi said with a wave of her hand.

Which _is_?" Kouji strained.

Izumi scowled a bit more, her balloon of excitement deflated. "They claim that the older brother was a schizophrenic who killed his brother and himself in the midst of a paranoid delusion." She spat. "Happy now?"

"Yes." Kouji smirked and picked up the pace just a bit, heading towards the school gate. "Come on, hurry up, slow pokes! We're going to be late!"

"Hey!" Takuya shouted in protest, taking off after him. "Wait up! Dammit, Minamoto!"

The others started to run as well. Kouichi quickly finished off what was left of his bread roll and jogged as well, falling into his usual place at the end of their group, not noticing a pair of ruby eyes that followed him all the way into the school building.

* * *

Saturday is the perfect day of the week. After all, school's is only half of the day. So the rest of the day is wide open for picnics at the park, a trip to Disneyland Tokyo, the movies, shopping, and even hanging out with friends. That was what the six teenagers were expecting; lunchtime. Students of all classes began pouring out into the school yard as soon as the bell rang. Some just went straight homes, but others liked to stay after school to participate in sport activities and clubs. And since those students stayed behind to practice, there were some who stayed behind to watch. In this case, Kouji and his friends stayed behind anyway, even though his Kendo Club meeting was canceled. Out on the school's lawn, most students were enjoying the company of their individual bento boxes packed with their favorite lunch made especially for this last day of school before the holidays.

Kouji and his friends began filing out under a sakura tree, a few pink petals falling gently into their food. Although spring is over, this tree is still their favorite spot every lunch time. The gang sat down and began to talk about their plans for spending Obon and going to Izumi's family's Italian restaurant.

"So what you want to eat? My dad's chefs can make us special Parma Ham, Prosciutto crudo, Vitello, Baccalà, Asiago cheese, and panforte for dessert!" Izumi said excitingly, thinking over of the fresh and mouth watering Italian food in her head.

"Not to be the party-pooper, Izumi," Takuya said, taking a bite of his shrimp puff, "but how about some pasta, spaghetti, and pizza instead?"

Annoyed, Izumi picked up a tiny pebble next to her and aimed for Takuya's head. It hit him squarely at his temple, causing him the grimace.

"Ouch! What the hell was that for?" Takuya cried, rubbing his head.

"You guys could at least try something new instead of just eating the same things every time you come over to my family's restaurants." Izumi snapped, sounding a bit insulted.

"Fine, fine, fine! I'll try the what you called it? Ravioli?"

Insulted, Izumi was about to strangle him when Tomoki interrupted. Being the youngest of the group, Tomoki wasn't enrolled in his friends' high school. Luckily, the middle school that he was attending at the moment was right next door. Every lunch time, he'd prefer to hang out with his friends. Once his break time was over, he quickly climbed back over a fence and onto his school's ground again.

"Hey, where's Kouichi?" Tomoki asked, looking around but seeing four friends.

True, Kouichi wasn't sitting with them as his empty spot between Takuya and Kouji remained empty. The youngest glanced at Kouji for some answers.

"Nii-san said that he had to return his recorder to Tanaka-sensei," Kouji replied, giving a shrug. "He said that he has forgotten to return it the other day."

"Man! I hate that music teacher!" Takuya remarked, taking another bite of his shrimp puffs.

"Well it's your fault for being off-key!" Izumi taunted. "Seriously, you should learn to practice your lessons more than spending all day chasing a ball."

"What can I say?" Takuya grinned. "Soccer is my guilty pleasure."

* * *

After Kouichi returned his recorder to the music teacher, he ran outside to join the others for lunch. Every student were sitting around eating and talking about Obon and their vacation plans. Up ahead, Kouichi could see his brother and his friends under their special school sakura tree. Izumi appeared to be insulted by Takuya's remark on something since Kouichi could tell that she threw a tiny pebble at him. Suddenly, a sound caught him off guard.

"Meow!"

Kouichi stopped but there was no one around him. He was sure that he had heard something that sounded like a cat.

"Meow!"

There it was again. Kouichi turned around and came face to face with a little black cat. It was a really scrawny looking cat. It was small and meek with ruby eyes, which was a bit strange. It looked a bit thin, as though it had been starving for a few days.

"Hello, there," Kouichi said as he bent down to stroke the black cat's fur. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home?"

"Meow," the black cat said with a purr.

"I see," Kouichi replied, feeling the scrawniness of the cat's back. "No home, huh? You must be starving. You poor thing."

"Meow," confirmed the cat.

"Here," said Kouichi, reaching into his backpack to pull out his bento box for lunch. With a few flick of his chopstick, he laid out three small pieces of his fried fishes. "You can have these."

"Meow!" The cat replied happily as it ate the fish greedily.

"You like them?" Kouichi smiled.

"Meow!" the cat purred in delight, licking off the last piece.

"Here," Kouichi laid out all of his fish. "You can have them all. I don't want you to starve." Kouichi tied up his bento box with a white cloth and put his chopsticks in its own container.

"Meow!" The cat thanked him and ran off with the last and largest piece of his fried fish.

"You're welcome!" Kouichi called after it. The thought of having no fish for lunch didn't really bother him. At least he still has some vegetables and meat to go along with his rice. And maybe his brother can trade him something for them, too.

"Hey Kouichi!" Takuya jumped up and waved to him hyperactively. "Come and pull up a root, buddy!"

Kouichi smiled and went to join his friends under the shady tree and the warm sun. Little did he know that pair of yellowish-red eyes was still following him.

**Most of Izumi's Italian cuisines were samples that I'd found on the internet. I tried to pick the ones that sounds and looked delicious. "Watanuki's Bakery and Café" is a name spoof from xxxHolic since the main character, Kimihiro Watanuki is an excellent cook in the story.  
**


	3. Obon

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Two: Obon**

It seems to have taken forever for the bell to ring, but at last it did and the school day was over. Summer vacation has finally begun.

Many students were very excited and were all looking forward to the Obon festival tomorrow, and most were already planning how to spend the rest of their well deserved break. Some would go away to spend the holiday with their families, while others would rather stay here in Tokyo with their friends. As for Kouichi and his friends, they were going to spend their first Obon night at an authentic Italian restaurant. One would say that it would be a very crazy idea, because to dine in a lavish foreign-style restaurant would cost at least a week's worth of the average person's salary. But luckily, among Kouichi's friends is Izumi Orimoto, whose parents happened to be the owners of such a restaurant.

After school, the gang decided to go home and get some of their belongings packed. They planned to spend the night sleeping in an upstairs room above the restaurant. It had once been a storage room, but Izumi's father had turned it into a lounge when some of his family members came to visit from Italy.

"Promise me that you won't be late, Nii-san?" said Kouji as the other four teenagers departed for home to pack. Except for Izumi since she already had her belongings ready before any of the boys.

Kouichi smiled as he swung his backpack over his shoulders. "I promise Kouji. I'm just gonna get my things at home."

"Whatever you say," Kouji smirked.

And with that, Kouichi ran off for his apartment. He began to slow down when he turned a corner near the post office. Next to it was a little pet shop. As Kouichi walked by the window, he could see many sweet, tiny, innocent looking puppies. They barked happily, asking him to come in and see them.

"_C'mon, now!"_ Kouichi could imagine them saying. _"Please won't you take us to a good home? We promise to play with you all the time! Take us home with you!"_

Kouichi had to smile sadly, for one them stood out from the rest. It was a young German shepherd with sweet black eyes like ink. The puppy reminded him of Hiroki, Kouiji's old German shepherd that had died a few months before. Satomi, the twins' step-mother, had given Kouji Hiroki for their first Christmas together after she had married and joined the Minamoto family. Although he hadn't accepted the dog at first, Kouji had learned to love him as _man's best friend_.

Kouichi had first encountered the dog when the twins had decided that Kouichi would meet their father, Kousei Minamoto, and Satomi for the first time. Back then, Hiroki was the first at the door to greet their new family member. The dog had liked his master's twin immediately.

Three months ago, the boys had decided to take a walk, and Kouji wanted to bring Hiroki along with them. It was a very chilly day in early spring, but Kouji and Kouichi hadn't thought that it was going to rain hard on them. The dark clouds rolled in above their heads, the winds began to rush about and around them. And it was soon joined by the downpour of water from the heaven. No sooner that the boys began to realize that they have to rush home quickly. After racing home for Kouichi's place, poor Hiroki had gotten so sick that he wasn't able to neither eat nor move over the next few days. Their mother advised them to call a vet, but by the time he came over, Hiroki was already dead.

Kouji hadn't talk much after the cremation, nor did he argue with Takuya when the goggle-head made his usual stupid remarks. Kouichi was afraid that his brother would never speak to him again, but eventually, Kouji could not shut himself up forever.

Kouichi continued on towards home. With the soft wind against his cheeks and the sun shining above his head, Kouichi felt at peace. Kouichi reached his front door in just minutes. Taking out his keys, Kouichi put it into place and turned it to unlock the door. There, just like his mother had said, were his things for staying at Kouji's place. Putting away his backpack in his room, Kouichi made one final check to see if he had everything he would need for the summer. He had his clothes, books, and the cell-phone his father had given him for his birthday last year. After a quick check through everything and making sure that the apartment and its doors and windows are safely locked tight, the dark blue-haired boy swung his backpack over his should and left.

* * *

The walk to the restaurant didn't take him long. Even though it's located near the center of a very noisy city rather than the small and quiet neighborhood, Kouichi found it quite nice. After passing through three or four blocks, the city came into sight. Cars begun to honk, commercial signs showed the latest fashion design of the Shibuya 109 fashion tower, shops sold their products to people, and busy pedestrians walking here and there to go home or get to work for their second shift. There were many restaurants scattered throughout the entire city, but most of them were just plain Japanese sushi bars and restaurants. Occasionally, there are a few Western fast food joints, or some Chinese restaurants trying to get people to taste their new spicy dishes. But there was one that stood out from the rest. It may not be the largest or the smallest, but it was the most foreign style and authentic Italian restaurant that anyone could ever lay eyes on. The front patio had many round tables with white cloths on top. Set in the middle of every one were the centerpieces. The Orimoto family preferred the tulip flowers instead of the rose as their family symbol. Twined around those bundles were colorful silk ribbons tied into grace and set into Venetian glass vases. Above everything else was a sign supported by plaster Roman columns that said, _Ristorante Italiano del Orimoto_: Orimoto's Italian Restaurant. Many tourists were sitting outside eating while enjoying a Japanese summer air. But the best seats were reserved inside.

When Kouichi opened the front door, he was greeted by the usual Italian waiter.

"_Benvenuto al nostro ristorante,_" greeted the waiter in Italian._ "Prenda prego una sede, signor— _Ah! Signor Kimura, please come in!" It was Enrico, one of the Italian-Japanese waiters of the restaurant. He had on a pair of plain black slacks, white top that was fit for an authentic restaurant employee, a tie, and his name tag. And to top it all off, Enrico spoke with a light accent. With a friendly gesture, the waiter closed the front doors and showed Kouichi to his table where the rest of his friends were sitty. "Signorina Izumi and your friends were expecting you. It is a lovely day isn't it? I'm sure that you'll be enjoying your little…um…ghost holiday is it?"

Behind him, a familiar voice spoke.

"It's called Obon, Erico, and_ sì_, I'm sure that my daughter and her little friends will enjoy it very much this year."

Standing by the counter was a tall, light brown-headed man with green eyes. It was Romano Orimoto, Izumi's father. He was a half Italian and Japanese man with a clean cut hair and facial features. Even though he was in his late forties, Signor Romano didn't seem to be older than thirty-five. He had on the same uniform as his employees but his was more formal to indicate that he was the owner. His wife, Teresa Orimoto, Izumi's mother, stood next to him. She had long, blonde hair which she tied up into a pony-tail, saved the long bangs which she left in front. Her eyes were plain blue like the sky. Aside from being the co-owner of the business, Signora Teresa was also the executive chef in the kitchen. Unlike Romano, Teresa was a native born Italian. From closed up, Kouichi knew that Izumi was the spitting image of her mother. She wore a lilac-colored skirt with a white blouse. There was a very small red stain on her left breast pocket from the tomato sauce for the spaghetti or pasta that she was making. Seeing Kouichi, Signora Teresa gave the boy one of her smiles of gratitude.

"_Buon pomeriggio,"_ she said. "Izumi and the others are all waiting for you over there. Why don't you had over your backback to Enrico? He can drop off your things upstairs while you go on ahead and enjoy, dear."

"Yes, Teresa-san," said Kouichi as Enrico took his backpack away for him. Kouichi never got used to addressing Izumi's parents by Signor or Signora, but because they knew his sweet and gentle nature, Romano and Teresa understood his ways.

Kouichi found his brother and his friends sitting at a large, round table at the corner of the restaurant where they had a good view outside to the left and a giant fish tank to their right. The fist tank was filled with fishes from the Mediterranean Sea and most of them were tropical fishes, corals, and reefs. One particular clown fish stared at the kids as Kouichi took his place at the table. Tomoki returned it with his own stare. As it swam away with its tiny little orangle fins to hide behind a coral, he turned around to resumed his chat with his friends.

"I thought you said that you weren't going to be late, Nii-san," said Kouji, eyeing his brother.

Kouichi decided to brush it off once he sat down. At least his brother is more forgiving to him than he is to Takuya. "I'm sorry, Kouji. At least I'm here am I?"

Kouji replied by giving him a small and gentle punch in the elbow.

"Okaaaay…how about pasta? No, on second thought, I think I'll have pizza instead," said Takuya going over the menu.

"Takuya! You said that you'll try something new!" Izumi said in annoyance as she took her own menu and tapped it on Takuya's head.

"Oh, c'mon! Pizza is probably the only Italian food that I like. You can't force me to eat what you want!" Takuya stuck his tongue out at her. Bad mistake. Izumi whacked him with her menu even harder.

"You're impossible!" Izumi spat, glaring at him mercilessly with her green eyes.

"You know what, Izumi-chan?" said Junpei. When she gave him a not-you-too look, Junpei raised up his hands in defense before continuing. "I really think that Takuya's right. We might as well have something that we like for Obon. I mean, isn't it enough that we're spending tonight at your place?"

Izumi frowned with displeasure and mumbled something under breath in Italian. "_Non capirò mai i ragazzi."_

"Can we please order something now?" Tomoki whined, slumping his head down on the table as he placed both of his hands over his head. "I'm starving here!"

"Yeah, no kidding there, kiddo," Takuya laughed, reaching out to mess the boy's brown hair.

Izumi didn't seem pleased with it at all, but at last she gave in after a quick mental consideration.

"Fine!" She said sternly. "But only if you all promise not to interrupt my ghost stories tonight when it's my turn." She gave everyone a look as if she was daring them all to cross their fingers behind their back. Her gaze fell on Kouji, scrutinizing him with such disdain because he had ruined her fun earlier today.

"Whatever," Kouji rolled his eyes, not even fazed when she snorted. Seeing that she was about to make a come back, Kouichi interrupted by negotiating peacefully with his twin.

"We promise we won't, right Kouji? Said Kouichi, giving him his brother an amusing smile.

"I said whatever!" Kouji snapped, but not as harsh as it is. "Just order something already!"

"Alright then! Hey Enrique!" Takuya said happily, mispronouncing the man's name for the umpteenth time. He stood up and waved his hand to the waiter.

"It's Enrico, Signor Kanbara," said the waiter as he came up to their table with a pen and a pad in his hands readied to take their order. "And what will it be today?"

"_Questo idiota vuole mangiare la pizza, Enrico," _Izumi replied in Italian. "We'll have the usual, and they can pick the toppings."

I want pineapple!" Tomoki said excitedly. "And cheese! Lots of cheese!"

"Pepperonis, too!"

"And onions!"

"Yeah, and anchovies, buddy!"

"Don't even think about it, goggle-head!"

"Okay, forget the fish, then!"

"_Sì_, and any drinks?" Enrico asked, scribbling down the orders swiftly.

"Orange juice, please."

"Lemonade for me."

"Same here!"

"I'll just have some tea, Enrico."

"You want something, Nii-san?"

"Huh? Oh! Um…water is fine for me."

After about twenty minutes or so, Enrico brought out their large pizza and Takuya and Junpei were the first to grab the biggest slices. The others soon followed suit, while the twins usually ate the smaller portions.

* * *

For the next few hours, the gang chattered about happily. Izumi talked about the latest outfit design that's hanging in the shop window the other day and said that she wanted to buy it over the summer. As usual, Junpei tried to impress her by agreeing with her every opinion. Tomoki told Takuya about joining the school's junior soccer team as he grabbed another slice of pizza. Takuya patted him on the back like an older brother with an I'm-proud-of-you and the go-for-it-little-buddy looks and grins.

Kouichi felt at home with his brother and friends when they were in their friendly fields of conflict. He didn't felt as lonely as before they'd met. The thought then brought him back to the black cat that morning.

_I wondered if it is okay now,_ Kouichi thought. The image of the little black kitten with ruby eyes came into his mind. Kouichi grinned when it also included one of his fried fish in its mouth. The grin caused his brother to look at him curiously, but Kouichi brushed it off and replied, "I was just thinking of something funny."

After many chattering, the sun begun the set and Izumi shooed everyone upstairs, while Enrico and the rest of the employees laid out the red table cloths. The scarlet fabrics on these tables were to indicate to the guests that it was dinner hour time. Those who came in late will have to order from the dinner menu now and even pay a few hundred yens more for the dishes. When Enrico got to their tables, he cleared their it and ordered the others to bring out the candles. Usually on nights such as this, many young or old couples liked to dine and Signor Orimoto made it clear that every table must have two candles and that they must be lit when the guest sit down during dinner time. Needless to say, it has to be one of the most romantic settings Kouichi has ever seen.

The gang found their belongings in the lounge upstairs. At one corner was a television set with a couch facing it, two paintings hung on the walls, and a window that overlooked the city at night. Signor and Signora Orimoto were kind enough to let them all stay in the lounge upstairs and raid the kitchen whenever one of them wanted a quick bite to eat again. During the first few hours, they spread their sleeping bags and items in a circle, then took out a few Japanese board games, such as Sougi, to play and chatter. The television was turned on with the news of the preparation for the Obon Festival tomorrow. All six of them were planning to go as well, but only to the one in their most favorite park. After a while, it made a forecast about a rare lunar eclipse that was coming in a few weeks, but then Izumi turned it off when there wasn't anything more interesting to be heard.

A few hours later closer to midnight, Takuya, Tomoki, and Junpei raided the many refrigerators in the staffs' kitchen and brought up the load to the others. Passing around the bags of chips, ice-cream for the others, and a few other types of midnight snacks, the gang made a circle as they began their ghost-story telling party. As of their little tradition, they all took turns telling a new scary story that they deemed worthy enough to be told, leaving Izumi's last since she always had the best ones every year. The twins sat quietly, for they would rather listen. Kouji wasn't really into researching for these stories and his brother wasn't a very good at holding suspences. They would rather let the others, like Takuya or Junpei entertain the rest of them.

A few hours later into their game, Junpei was finishing up his ghost story as the moon's beam faded behind the clouds.

Izumi began to fidget like an excited dog wagging her tail fiercely for her master to give her the go signal. Sensing her eagerness, Junpei began to wrap up his story.

"And that's how the ghost boy died and haunted that house to this day."

As soon as he was finished, Junpei and the others turned their heads to face Izumi.

"Okay, Izumi-chan," said Junpei with a big stupid grin on his face, as though trying to show his crush that she has one hundred percent of his attention. "We're all ears, so fire away!"

Izumi gave him a smile and turned around to dim the only lamp in the room for the perfect dark mood. Facing the others and taking in a deep breath, she began her story.

"Once, long ago, there were two brothers, twin princes. Their names were James and Jason, sons of the medieval Lusterian's ruler, King Pelius. Now, they were the King's only children, but because James was just a little bit older than his brother, he was named the heir. This seemed very odd to many, because James was always very quiet, preferring his books, while his brother, Jason, was active and noble and everything a king should be. But since the fact remains that James was the eldest of the two, and as such, when he was fifteen, he was engaged to marry a princess from a neighboring kingdom called Atlantice.

"Unfortunately, before the two of them could be married, the princess was found dead in her room, drained completely of blood. Accusations and theories flew all around, but no one could even tell how the princess had died, let alone figure out her murderer. Soon, more and more people, villagers and castle servants had turned up exactly the same as the princess, drained of blood without any clue as to who might have done it. The entire town and the castle were in a panic.

"Soon, suspicions began to fall on the Princes, especially when the Queen, who was not their birthmother, was found dead of the same causes as the rest. Prince James had been acting very strangely ever since his engagement to his fiancé, and there were reports that he was having trouble sleeping at night. But before anyone could even think to accuse him of the crimes, he and his brother both turned up dead in the same night."

"That's scary!" Tomoki commented, his eyes wide open in shock.

"It got them, too?" Takuya asked.

"Well no duh, Takuya!" said Kouji.

"Sshhh! C'mon, Izumi," Junpei said excitedly, much to Izumi's pleasure, "So why would they be found dead, too?"

"No one really knows what happened, but the princes were found together outside the castle, on the necropolis, the village main cemetery. Prince Jason had been strangled and then drained of blood. But at the same time, Prince James seemed to have committed suicide by stabbing himself through the chest with his brother's sword or a dagger or some sort. Immediately after they died, the attacks stopped, and the kingdom was never bothered by the menace again.

"It was eventually decided the Prince James had been possessed by a cursed vampire who fed on others' blood, and that he had been the one that had been hunting throughout the country. When Prince Jason followed him, intent on stopping the demon and saving his brother, he instead fell victim to the dark power, and Prince James, in his grief, had taken his own life. After hundreds of years later, they say that the vampire who drove them to this tragedy managed to escape even though his host was dead, and that he still haunts the world, looking for another innocent soul to inhabit and feed on others' blood once again…"

Izumi took a deep breath as she finished her story.

For a moment, there was silent. At last Takuya broke it. "So do you think the vampire is somehow still out there?"

"Of course not," said Kouji, "it's just a story, it's not real."

"But it's based on a real historical event, for your information!" Izumi said, wanting very much to hit him in the head.

"It's really late guys," Kouichi said, looking at the clock on the wall that reads 1:30. "We should really go to sleep now."

"Yeah, hey, look," Junpei pointed to Tomoki, whose already snoring. "Looks like someone's having a pleasant dream first. We better all hit the hay."

They all agreed and buried themselves into their cozy sleeping bags. One by one, they all fell asleep soundlessly, saved for Takuya's infamous snoring. He only fell silent when Izumi whacked him on the head in order to shut him up. Kouji laughed under his breath and turned to face his brother as he spotted something.

"Nii-san," Kouji said quietly, "Is something wrong?"

Kouichi shook his head as he closed his eyes. "No, I'd just had a feeling that I've known that story somewhere before."

"You mean Izumi's? But this is the first time we've heard of it."

But Kouichi was already fast asleep. His face was like an angel as a moonlight shines through the window, reflecting his smile in soft light. Kouji smiled. "Good-night, Nii-san."

* * *

Meanwhile outside of the restaurant, a small, black cat was sitting on a branch of a tree. Its eyes laid on the shadowy figure on the top floor window. Beneath it, a white dog sat patiently, his head held high up to the cat. Not to bark, but to speak in human tongue.

"What are you doing up there, Löwe?" said the dog.

The cat's ears flopped to one side. Looking down, he replied. "I've found them, Lobo. I've found the princes again after years of searching."

**Author's note: I should remind all of you that there is no Digimon in this fanfic. This story takes place in an alternate universe where the Digimon are gijinkas, at least humanized, and are only referred to their names but without the "-mon". For example, Lobo and Lowë are the gijinkas of Lobomon and Löwemon.**

**Here are a few Italian translations:**

_**Ristorante Italiano del Orimoto**_**- Orimoto's Italian Restaurant**

_**Benvenuto al nostro ristorante. Prenda prego una sede, signor—**_** Welcome to our restaurant. Please take your seat, sir—**

_**Sì-**_**Yes**

_**Buon pomeriggio**_**- Good afternoon**

**Non capirò mai i ragazzi.**-**I'll never understand boys!**

_**Questo idiota vuole mangiare la pizza, Enrico**_**-This idiot wants to eat pizza, Enrico.**

**Obon- a Japanese Buddhist holiday to honor the departed spirits of your ancestors. It is held from July 13, August 13 according to the lunar calendar, to the 15th. It is also a time to tell many ghost stories. **

**Pelius is the evil uncle who sent his nephew on the journey to retrieve the Golden Fleece. And Jason is the nephew of Pelius and is the hero who journey to get the Golden Fleece with the help of the goddess Hera from Greek Mythology. I'd just pick these two names for the characters in Izumi's ghost stories to make them sound more…western style…**


	4. The Strangers

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Three: The Strangers**

_Light streamed through the windows, creating warmth and comfort upon the castle ground. Birds chirped while the leaves danced with the wind. A young boy was walking through the garden admiring the red roses and the lovely oak trees with an old swing set. He could remember that he and his brother had played together here when they were very young. The boy took his place at a marble bench under his favorite tree to read. They say that books can take you places. He found this to be true and quite enjoyable. Reading certainly does take his mind off of things. Such as his father's announcement last night. Thinking about it makes his stomach churn and the only thing that he wants right now was to take his mind off of it by reading. Unfortunately, he didn't reach far in his book when he heard a familiar voice._

_"Brother!" cried a familiar voice._

_The boy looked up to find his twin running towards him. And from the looks what he's seeing, the boy could tell that his twin wasn't happy. Putting his book aside, the older brother sighed, got up, and readied himself for the scolding._

_"Brother," the approaching twin gasped. To his surprise, his younger brother seemed…shocked instead of angry. "I had to see you! Is it true? Father wants you to get married?"_

_"Jason, please," said the older brother named James, trying his best to calm his twin. "Yes, it's true. Father wants me to get married. I never expected to have much say in the matter, really."_

_"I can't let this happen to you, James," said Jason, placing his hands on his brother's shoulders trying to get him to look into his eyes. "Who is she?" he demanded. "You don't seem very happy at all about it though."_

_"You can tell, can't you, Jason?" said James half amusingly._

_"Of course I can! I can tell when you're lying and when you're sad…I feel it, too! Don't you know that?" Jason didn't want to make his brother feel guilty as he lowered his voice. But not even that could have helped them both._

_"Very well," said James. "As to who is my future bride is, I couldn't care less. It is my duty to follow father's wishes. If I'm going to be the ruler of this country one day, then I must do what Father is to ask of me."_

_"But what if you don't love her?" Jason demanded. "What if she's not the person you would want for a queen much less a bride?"_

_"Then I must learn to love her." James responded firmly, yet kindly. "The girl I'm supposed to marry is the princess from Atlantice."_

_"The Water Kingdom ruled by Emperor Alan?" Jason asked with a hint of surprise in his eyes._

_"Yes," James said, picking up his book and he walked towards the outer garden of the palace. Jason accompanied him as the palace guards watched them from afar. "Father said that our country, Lusteria, is low on trade marketing by sea and a possible war with Gurtemburgg. He said that my marriage with the emperor's sister will ease our alliances in the future. Once my marriage to her is finally secured, then we would gain a better economy and a winning force in the neighboring war. But to tell you the truth, I rather spend my life with books and art than marriage. But then again, Father showed me her portrait. She's very beautiful."_

_"Don't they all do in paintings?" Jason said, a bit annoyed by the fact that his brother has to marry a possible spoiled princess. Taking a deep breath, Jason took both of his brother's hands in his and looked into him with determined eyes. "Brother, I can't stand by and watch you being forced to love someone you have never even met! There has to be another way out of this…there has to be a way. This I promise you, James…"_

_I promise you…_

_James…_

Brother…

Wake up…wake up…wake up…

"Wake up, Nii-san…!"

Kouichi Kimura woke up with a start, only to find his twin brother shaking him not so gently yet not quite forcefully. The sun was already shining and the birds were already chirping; Kouichi could tell that it was already near mid-morning since the clock on the wall read eight o' clock. It took him a moment to find that his brother was staring at him with concern.

"Nii-san," Kouji said, "Are you all right? I'd tried to wake you up for half a minute already. Everyone is already downstairs eating. You're the only one left."

"Oh, sorry about that," Kouichi replied, putting on his usual sweet smile so that he would look convincing. "I just had a strange dream, that's all…I didn't really mean to worried you."

"Oh really?" Kouji said, his dark, blue eyes rolling. He walked over to one side of the room where they had all left their backpacks. He reached for Kouichi's and tossed him his set of clothes. "What was it about this time?"

"What?" Kouichi blinked.

"The dream, Nii-san. What was it about this time?"

"I can't really remember much exactly," Kouichi replied, unbuttoning his pajamas and replaced it with a white t-shirt and a pair of brown jeans. "It was such a blur, but to tell you the truth…it was a bit familiar."

Kouichi stood there at the door, his face down as though in deep thoughts. For a moment, silence fell upon the room. The birds chirped and others sang with the sun shining all over Japan. Kouji, on the other hand, didn't like the way his brother is acting right now. It was as though his brother is shutting him and the others out and not wanting to tell him how he feels. But then Kouichi looked up and smiled at him with that wonderful smile of his, causing the boy to temporarily forget what he was worrying about a moment ago.

"I'm sorry," he said, brushing the topic aside. "I'm being silly. Let's go downstairs and see what's on the menu this morning!"

And with that, the two brothers raced downstairs to the restaurant and join their friends. As the two joined the others at their "special" table next to the fish tank, Junpei and Tomoki greeted them with their cheerful teasing, calling them something like being sleepy koalas. Takuya and Izumi, on the other hand, only gave the twins a quick and toneless good morning. Again Takuya made a comment that he wanted to have pizza for breakfast, but Izumi scolded him for not trying out the new dishes.

"Honestly, Takuya!" Izumi said sourly as her eyes showed a hint of annoyances. "You're always eating the same thing here! Can't you do me one little favor and try something new? You'll never know if you'll like it until you try! There's more to Italian food than just pizza and pastas, you know!"

Takuya glared at her in return and grunted. "Why do you care?" He challenged. "Geez, you sound like my mom when I don't want to eat her special surprise dinner night!"

"And perhaps she had a good reason, too!" snapped Izumi, nearly screaming at the top of her lungs and with her hands ready to smack him. Takuya saw this and tried to dodge the attack but escaped barely. "Maybe she's upset because you refuse to try something that she worked so hard on! I'm sick of you!"

"You better order something, Takuya, before Izumi-chan blows a gasket!" said Junpei as Izumi was about to pounced on her friend.

"Alright! Alright already!" Takuya cried. "I'll have the...uh...ravioli?"

Unfortunately for him, it was the wrong thing to say. Izumi furiously jumped out of her seat, grabbed the brown-headed boy by his neck, and went into the motion of choking him. While this was happening, Kouji smiled and laughed with amusement, and it wasn't because he knew that Takuya wasn't going to die from her wrath, but the fact that Takuya was getting what he deserved.

"You ate that last time!" Izumi shrieked.

* * *

On such a lovely morning in the summer, one wouldn't stop to wonder why a little black cat was riding on the back of a large, white dog. The two of them were only half hidden in a bush, looking through a glass window of an Italian restaurant. The dog's tail flicked back and forth while the cat's eyes were both focus on something...or someone. People who were passing by or eating outside of the restaurant might have thought that they were just sitting there thinking of the food served inside, but that was not the case. Quietly, the dog lowered itself into the bush so the both of them were completely hidden from human's eyes. The cat jumped off of the wolf-liked dog and landed in front of it. It turned around to face the dog as they are about to speak.

"Well, Lobo?" said the black cat, its eyes blinked. "Don't you agree with me that it's them? I can feel it with my own paws and stubby tail."

"Forget about your stubby tail for a moment now, Löwe," said the dog called Lobo. He paused to think for a moment before he spoke again. "Yes, it does seem likely that those two are the princes. The one with the longer hair has the same courageous eyes as Prince Jason. And the other one has the same gentle smile as Prince James. But do tell me, Löwe, how did you managed to find them this time?"

Löwe didn't answer his friend immediately. Instead, he bent down his head and began to scratch his ears with his front paw. After he finished, he returned his gaze at Lobo. Then he gave an amusing smile. "Let's just say that I got hungry yesterday and begged one of them to feed me."

Lobo didn't find it amusing. Instead of giving his usual remark on such a subject, he just stared down on his paws. His eyes show a hint of shame and disappointment. "I just wished that this would end." He growled quietly. "If only I could have gotten on to them earlier, then perhaps we wouldn't be like this now."

"It wasn't your fault, my friend," said Löwe gently, trying his best to comfort his doggy friend. "Dusk tricked us into believing in that false clue. Those two died on the battle field. No-Man's-Land wasn't the best place for their death back then. At least people thought that the bloodshed was the cause from tear gas about a century ago."

"Yes, but only thanks to the help of World War I that the bloodshed died down in just a week. But this time, Löwe, I now ask you," Lobo lifted his head to look at the group of teenagers eating in the restaurant. They all seemed so happy and carefree, exchanging conversation and laughter...save for the one being choked by the girl. "Do you think that we'll succeed this time? Or will history be repeated again?"

"I'm sorry, my friend," Löwe sighed in disappointment. "That is a question which I cannot answer, not because I believe so, but because I fear of the outcome. But now, we must approach them before tomorrow, Lobo, so make haste and let us go."

* * *

The morning sunlight shines through the clear windows of the restaurant, blessing its customers with light and warmth. The weekend is a wonderful time to enjoy with one's friends and family. Some were planning to go to the theatre later that day. Some were just tourists from abroad and they were planning to view the city later on. Most are just eager for the Obon festival later that night. Yet, these people all had one thing in common; it is the fact that they are all there to enjoy an Italian breakfast. The men at one table talked about mahjong and who had won the previous night. A few couples were sitting at the other corner near the fountain and are exchanging love talk and kisses. A few friends were planning their shopping while another talked about the theatre. Yes, these people are all going about their normal lives with each other that morning, save for one. Only one person was thinking of something that no one would normally do.

At one far corner of the restaurant sat a girl who seemed to be about fourteen or fifteen years old. She had long, dark, and wavy raven-colored hair tied up in a graceful bun with a pony-tail streaming out from the center. Her eyes were blue as the sea and her face as gold as any Asian on the street. She was wearing what seemed to be a British private school uniform, with a tie and a beret. Her white skirt lay firmly with both legs wearing high heels black boots crossed.

She was alone, for no one sat across her in an empty chair. Her eyes seemed to be in a trance, as though she has something on her mind. But she soon came back to reality when a waiter came by.

"_Signorina_," he asked, taking out his pen and pad readied to take orders. "What would you like on this fine morning?"

"I'll have the _caffè e latte_ with the _prima colazione, Fette biscottate, _and also the_ cappuccino e brioche_," the girl smiled sweetly as the waiter wrote down her orders.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll have it out in five minutes," the waiter nodded and turned towards the kitchen. As his words were kept, the waiter brought out the food and coffees and laid them out for the customer. The girl gave him a tip for his generous deed and laughed when he saw the amount of it. "Thank-you! _Grazie_, you are too kind."

"Yes," the girl whispered under her breath as she sipped her coffee. "Too kind, indeed."

The girl watched the group of kids near the fish tank and found it amusing when the blonde girl started to scream at her friend for not trying out the new dishes. She found it more amusing when the girl tried to strangle her friend. But her eyes fell on the twins instantly. The older one with the shorter hair seemed too quiet and he tried to calm his friend down, while his brother only sat back and watched the show.

"So their destiny are now intertwined once again, huh?" said the girl, taking another sip, she smiled at the thought. "After another one hundred years, you will once again spill blood before the red moon and you will use _him_ as your prey, but again his brother will try to save him. But I wonder if you will once again succeed this time..."

Without glancing, the bushes outside behind her reflected movement against the windows. The girl only smiles, for she has already figured out the next act.

"Or will two little pets stop you? Your fate has been written down and carved into stone, and only spirits and lost souls will welcome you. There is no coincidence in this world, only the inevitable. But you know what the saying goes," the girl took one last sip and looked down. Rather than the face of an Asian-looking girl, the surface of the coffee reflected the face of a beautiful woman with short blue hair. The girl smiled, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And as the Oracle, I advise those two outside to think about their mistakes or it will be too late…again." Then she paused, "Mmm…this is the best Italian coffee I had ever tasted! But I wonder…"

Blue eyes fell upon Kouichi as though an invisible player has joined the game. "Will he be a pawn again this time? Or a King? Even I, the Oracle don't know. Do you know your destiny, Kouichi-kun?"

* * *

Kouichi suddenly felt it. It came to him like a bolt of lightning. The sudden impact was unexpected as though it had come from the sky. He could feel it. Those eyes. There was someone watching him. Kouichi turned around only to find a few people engaged in their own conversation. No. The feeling felt stronger at the other corner where the bushes are. There was no one there, except a few empty plates of eaten breakfast and coffee cups. The bell at the door rang and Kouichi caught a glimpse of a girl leaving the building. Kouichi turned his attention back towards his brother, who eyed him with questions.

"Kouichi," Kouji said under his breath so that the others couldn't hear. "What is it?"

"I'm sorry," Kouichi said. "I just felt something. That's all. There's nothing to worry about. I'm fine."

"If you're sure."

But Kouichi wasn't sure. The presence from the corner felt strange. It didn't felt normal at all. No, it felt as though someone was planning something terrible. It was something sinister. It made his bone chilled as the grave. This presence that he had felt was…was…evil.

Pure evil.

**Author's note: And so enters a few new characters who will be playing major roles in this story.**

**Also, some of the Italian breakfast and coffees were randomly selected from the internet for this chapter.**


	5. The Past and Home

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Four: The Past and Home**

The sun slowly rolled high over the bright sapphire sky as the light gleamed and reflected in the water. The ancient Oracle of Delphi was famous since the sun god Apollo killed the chthonic dragon Python to claim her. She could remember very well when she told Python that he would be killed by Leto's son. Worried, the beast went off to chase the goddess Leto around the world so that she'll never have a moment of peace to give birth. The Oracle could remembered when Hera held Ilithyia hostage just in case so the other minor goddesses bride the Queen of the Gods. At last Leto gave birth to the two twins; Artemis, Goddess of the Moon, and her brother, Apollo, God of the Sun. Python was then too old to fight Apollo and died, leaving Delphi peaceful and wonderful again, never to be left in the darkness of the fearsome dragon. The Oracle was happy to have Apollo claimed her in his honor. For many centuries, she took the form of different Oracles, giving messages to travelers and seeking wisdom from Gaia. But there are many times when she gave advices and prophecies, and those who consulted her always thought differently and some would try to prevent their fate, only to have karma smack the fate right back at them. Like the time when Croesus asked her what will happen before he crossed into Persia. The Oracle sat there and said, "If you cross the river, you will destroy a great empire."

Thinking that her telling is a good thing for him, he crossed the river but had his own empire destroyed instead.

After many centuries later, The Oracle of Delphi settled as the Water Oracle.

The Oracle could have just sat in her garden drinking tea and thinking of her past prophecies all day. The one about the king of Sparta consulting her before the Battle of Thermopolis was one to remember. But instead, she looked into a more repeating past. The bloody crime started when King Pelius made his announcement to his son.

The Oracle sighed as a gentle gust of wind blew a leaf into her tea. As she plucked out the leaf, it left a few ripples in the clear, brownish water. Whispering a few words under her breath, images began to play in the reflecting water of her tea.

* * *

_The scene began to show a kingdom called Lusteria. It was a bright and beautiful kingdom where the citizens played their parts well in life as they farmed, sold, built, and fetch water from a well. The Oracle had lived on top of a little hill right next to the town's moor and was often consulted by villagers and weary travelers. She could remember that all was peaceful then, until the spirits told her all isn't well and it's coming._

_As years went by, the Kingdom of Lusteria was almost at war with the Gurtemburgg Empire. The King knew that the Gurmtembians are trying to expand their empire by conquering the others. So far, they had been very successful in the east, and they had just overthrown the Czestolian king and his family whose country lies next to Lusteria._

_Master Boko, a small, old man with snow-white hair, bowed low to the King. "I am very sorry, Your Majesty, but I fear that Lusteria might be their next target."_

_The King sighed deeply, leaning back against his throne and pictured his kingdom suffering under the ruthless Emperor of Gurtemburgg. "What am I going to do? The Gurtembians have such a huge army…my kingdom would surely fall to their knees. Not to mention that our war trademarks are low by sea."_

_Master Boko shifted from one foot to the other, daring himself to speak. "Your Majesty, how old is the Crown Prince?"_

_"Why do you ask such a foolish question during a time of crisis?" the King demanded, his fist clenched. Master Boko jumped and winced. "He and his brother had just turned fifteen."_

_"Your Majesty, there might be a way to defeat the Gurtembians," Master Boko continued. "May I suggest an alliance to one of our neighboring kingdoms?"_

_The King raised his eyebrows in interest. "What do you have in mind?"_

_"Sire, do you know the reputation of the Kingdom of Atlantice?" Boko dared ask._

_"Yes, as a matter of fact. I heard that their navy is invincible. They are legend across the sea," said the old ruler._

_"Well, yes...and their sea trademarks is quite high and it seems that the King of Atlantice has a sister named Marina. She's just about the princes' age. If the Crown Prince marries her, Atlantice would help us defend against the ruthless Gurtembians," Boko smiled. "Not only would your kingdom be saved and our sea trademarks be high, but perhaps this princess would bare you a grandchild, who would one day rule Lusteria after the Crown Prince."_

_The King seemed very pleased with this idea. He had always wanted to see his grandchildren before his time on earth is up, and a future daughter-in-law wouldn't be such a bad idea. "Tell me, what does she look like?"_

_"They say that the Princess is very beautiful. She has the singing voice of a mermaid and plays the harp like the sea. They called her Neptune's Pearl."_

_"Very well," said the King. "Send words to King Alan of Atlantice that if he agree to Lusteria's offer to an arrange marriage between the Princess Marina and my son, James, the Crown Prince, then he must help Lusteria defend itself from the ruthless Gurtembians."_

_"Excellent, Sire!" Nee piped, running out of the throne room. "I shall inform the letter right away."_

_"Master Boko," the King turned to the Royal Teacher. "Tell the Crown Prince to meet me in my private dining hall right away. I want a word with him alone."_

_"Yes, Sire," Boko bowed lowly as he left the throne room._

* * *

_Out in one of the palace's gardens, the two Princes were having their lessons with Lobo and Löwe, the two most loyal and strongest knights in the land. Lobo was called the Silver Wolf of Day while his friend the Shadow Lion of Night. Together, they were the Guardian Knights, sworn under sacred oath to protect and serve the twin princes of Lusteria for as long as they shall draw breath._

_As the sun continued to shine, it glinted off of Jason's dulled sword. The prince smirked confidently, knowing that after a few minor bruises he will sure to disarm the Silver Wolf this time. Seeing how confident his young pupil and master was, Sir Lobo couldn't help but chuckle under his breath. After all, the boy still has a lot to learn before he could surpass his trainer.  
_

_"Ready?" Lobo raised his sword in preparation._

_The training swords have no blades sharpened on either ends, so neither the knight nor his prince can hurt one another during their sparing practice. Lobo's eyes glinted towards his young charge as the Prince raised his own practice sword. Jason's eyes held a sort of bright eagerness, as he always did during these lessons. He was just as excited as ever._

_Meanwhile on the other side of the field, his older twin brother and the kingdom's Crown Prince, James, was practicing with staff defense with his own personal Guardian Knight, Sir Löwe. After twelve years of training, James was able to predict __Löwe_'s next move and how to block them. Soon the field was filled with the sound of clashing non-bladed swords and wooden staffs. The two princes fought back excitedly, almost in unison like music. Both knights lost their foot and was about to slip. The two princes were winning! But then, out of nowhere, the knights knocked them off of their feet. In reality, Lobo and _Löwe_ only pretended to lose their footing so that they can drop to the group and swipe their charges off of their feet with their weapons. Both princes looked at each other and at their Guardian Knights in surprise. Lobo and _Löwe_ shook their heads.

_"Sorry, Your Highnesses," said ____Löwe_.

_"Yes, sorry about that," Lobo added. "But you two were too confident this time that you've underestimated your opponents."_

_"The one who is overconfident..." began ______Löwe_.

_"...is the one who makes the most reckless mistake," Lobo finished._

_"Yeah, we'll keep that in mind," Jason smirked._

_Soon, their lessons were shortly interrupted by Master Boko as James spotted him from the corner of his eyes.._

_"It's the old coot," said Jason, his brother giving him a grin._

_James laughed. "Wonder what he wants."_

_Master Boko waddled up to them stupidly like a penguin, flapping his hat back and forth in a very ridiculous gesture. He beckons James to come._

_"Your Highness, the King wants to speak with you immediately," said Boko. "You may continue your lessons with Lowë next week."_

_"What does Father want with me?" James asked, handing over his training staff to __Löwe_.

_"That is not for me to say," said Boko impatiently. "Now come. He's in his private dining hall."_

* * *

_The grand doors to the King's private dining were closed. Master Boko knocked as he shifted from one foot to another._

_"Come in," said the King._

_James and Boko entered to see King Pelius eating alone at one end of the table. Another set was placed next to him as though it was prepared for James. The king looked up and seemed happy to see his son._

_"You wished to have a word with me, Your Majesty?" said James nervously._

_"Yes. Come in and sit," said the King. James paced to the end of the room and sat down next to him. Pelius turned to face Master Boko and gestured him out of the door with his hand. "Leave us."_

_Boko bowed and left the door closed, leaving both father and son alone._

_"Eat, son. You must be hungry after Lowë's lectures," the King said cheerfully. "I have ordered the cook to serve your favorite dishes."_

_"Thank you, Father," James said nervously. He took his silver utensils and started on the chicken. Chewing nervously, his mind was full of questions._

_They both ate quietly. When James finished his goblet of rich red Lusterian wine, he swallowed his courage and asked his father the question he'd been craving for._

_"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," he mumbled truculently. "Why did you want to see me?"_

_The King gulped down his last goblet of wine before pouring himself another glass. He turned to face his son and spoke with a beaming face. "Very well then, I'll get to the point," King Pelius replied. "Would you like to marry the Princess of Atlantice?"_

_"Marry?" said James stupidly; he was too surprised to stop himself. "What for?"_

_The king sighed, putting down his goblet. "It will take a lot more to make a diplomat of you, son," he said. "To make you King, bring Atlantice into the family, and form an alliance against the Gurtembians."_

_"An arrange marriage? You are arranging me to marry the Atlanticean Princess?"_

_"Son, it's a matter of fate for our kingdom," said the King coolly. "The Gurtembians are ruthless and they are trying to rule all of Europa. Lusteria could be next. Atlantice has a reputation of an invincible navy and high sea trademarks. The only way to convince them to become our ally is for you to marry Emperor Alan's younger sister."_

_It took James a while for the idea to sink in. It might not be all that bad. But then again, he had never really seen the Atlanticean Princess before, let alone knows her. "What is she like?" he asked._

_Pelius smiled and ordered the court painters to bring in a canvas of her image. The prince's face remained emotionless as his father beamed proudly._

_"Well, son?" he asked. "What do you think of your future bride?"_

* * *

_After that and the next morning, Jason found out what their father had in mind for his brother. After the shocking news, Jason ran out into the garden furiously, searching for his brother to confirm his worst fear._

_"What? An arranged marriage? You are going to marry a girl you have never met before?" Jason shouted. He was a bit disgusted by his father's trick. It was simply outrageous._

_"Father said that as the Crown Prince, I must not think for myself but for my kingdom," said James as calmly as possible. "This marriage will unite our two kingdoms together against the Gurtembians in the impending war."_

_"But will you be happy with her? What if you don't love her?" Jason pressed._

_"Then I must learn to love her." James replied firmly, but not unkindly. "It's my duty..."_

_"But..." his brother pressed, but James only shook his head._

_"Duty before self, remember? That's what it comes to being the oldest," said James as he smiled sadly. Jason couldn't bring himself to argue any further. _

_The conversation between them ended there for now._

* * *

_After the next few days, a messenger and his own servants arrived at the palace with news from the water kingdom. King Pelius beamed with pride while his queen, Johanna, smiled with joy._

_"Wonderful news, James!" said the king excitedly to his son. "Alan, the King of Atlantice had agreed to accept you as his future brother-in-law! We have asked the astrologist to arrange the date of your wedding and will consult the Oracle of this as well," Pelius continued. The King seemed too delighted in his kingdom's good fortune to noticed Jason's frown. "The princess will be escorted here by next week. As it is to their custom, the groom must offer his future bride an engagement necklace."_

_James's face turned pale and his heart was beating faster than usual. It was all too much at once for him to handle. He was feeling sick just thinking about it. But the queen, who isn't their birthmother, saw her son's reaction. In her head, she tried to think up of a way to calm down his nerves and got an idea. "James, you can pick any design for her necklace. Wouldn't that be lovely?"_

_"Yes, indeed, my Queen!" said King Pelius, "And after the wedding, I shall order the masons to build another wing for the two of you when you're married. It would have the perfect room for my future grandchildren."_

_James's stomach was churning with a mixture of fear and dizzy. He felt sick. He couldn't take this anymore. He just had to get away from his parents and their obnoxious atmosphere of excitement. James politely agreed and excused himself from the room. Jason followed him while Lobo and Löwe gave each other concerned looks. They said nothing for it was not their place to speak out against their rulers' decisions._

* * *

_The next few days passed in confusion and desperation. James was nervous and his brother upset. He had already chosen the jewel for the princess' engagement necklace and had it delivered without a second thought. Why bother? The wedding was going to happen anyway, right? The wedding date was set for next month as soon as spring was here. The twins had finally seen her image with a brand new and updated portrait. She was indeed very beautiful especially with her piercing blue eyes and dark hair._

_"They're always prettier in paintings," said Jason sternly, his arm crossed. "Maybe the Court Painter was ordered to make her look prettier than she already is. You know, just because she's pretty doesn't mean that she'll like you."_

_James just sighed and shook his head, leaning himself against his pillow. "Are you disappointed?" he asked, surprised._

_"Oh, as for that, I don't care," said Jason sarcastically, rather more bitterly than his words suggested. Seeing that he couldn't obviously convince his brother, Jason dropped the act and decided to come clean. "I'm sorry. It's just that I really think it's unfair for you to marry someone who might not love you. And you would have to spend a lot of time with her. I don't want us to be parted."_

_James felt deeply touched and could do nothing but smiled gently, hoping that that would at least put his brother at ease. Putting his arm around his brother, James could feel that Jason's worries were dying down a bit._

_"I promise I won't leave you. You'll always be my brother. We're twins and we have a very strong bound. No one could break it. Not God, not even this stupid arranged marriage for political reasons."_

_With that, they both smiled as the sun set on the west horizon._

* * *

_Four days later, the Atlanticean Princess and her family had finally arrived in Lusteria._

_"His Majesty King Alan I of Atlantice!" announced Nee, the Squire._

_The Atlanticean royal family was shown into a large reception room. First were the Atlanticean King and his wife, Alice. The Crown Prince of Atlantice, Alan II, accompanied by his pregnant princess came in after them. And finally, the beautiful Princess of Atlantice; Marina, escorted by her closest waiting-ladies. Her face was somewhat pale. The sun shone light through the windows and reflected upon her raven hair. But her ocean blue eyes show no sign of eagerness nor happiness._

_The two royal families embraced in warm reception. Pelius beamed when Marina said that she was happy to become a part of his royal family and promised him to bear many children of her own in the future. She and James were introduced and they nodded at each other shyly, exchanging a few sweet and short greetings. Then they had sat down to dine in the Great Hall. While the adults were discussing plans for the wedding, the three teenagers were eating silently. Not saying a word to one another, Jason can't help but glare at her coldly. She blushed every time their eyes met, but said nothing._

_Soon the meal was interrupted when Nee walked in._

_"Your Majesty, the astrologists have decided the date of the wedding and I have consulted the Oracle," Nee said, pulling out a scroll on which he had written down what the Oracle has said._

_"Excellent! What did the wise Oracle have to say?" Pelius asked eagerly._

_Nee handed the parchment to Boko who cleared his throat in preparation._

"Your most fitting son for the throne shall be blessed with Atlantice's greatest treasure, but your other son shall sink into grief and a great kingdom shall rise while the other will fail."

_"Enough!" Pelius said furiously as the room fell silent under his command. Boko and Nee winced cowardly but remained rooted to the spot, not daring to run away from his fury. "Is that what the Oracle has said?" he demanded._

_"Word by word, Sire," Nee replied nervously. He was intimidated by Pelius' furious tone so much that he felt that he could just leak himself right then and there. Luckily for him, he didn't._

_"It seems that my sister is Atlantice's greatest treasure, according to the Oracle," King Alan said as he placed his goblet of wine down with a smile. "It seems that the gods have smiled down on us. Surely those savage Gurtemburgg will fall while we shall both rise to power."_

_"Indeed," Pelius agreed, relaxing a bit after his sudden burst of anger. Hearing Alan's words, he began to consider the Oracle's prediction. "This is a very good prophecy... Yes Very good, indeed!"_

_"But what of our sons?" said Queen Johanna, her eyes filled with worried tears. "The prophecy did say that Jason will feel left out."_

_"I'm fine, Your Grace," Jason said boldly, "I need not a bride to be happy."_

_"I will not have that, Jason!" Pelius said with a firm grip on his chair. "The Oracle is wise and she speaks the truth. If she said that you are to fall into grief, I will not have it! You will marry someday also, so that our legacy will live and you should be proud of it! And now, a toast to our to-be-united alliances!"_

_Pelius raised his cup high and soon all followed his lead and no more discussion of the Oracle was said. The only thing to be followed was the wedding planning and the preparating for the commission of a wedding bed. Jason's scowl went unnoticed. Only his brother was able to catch his frustration at their father's, yet again, marriage plan for the both of them. This day just kept getting better._

* * *

_The sun was setting, and James was forced to spend the evening with the Princess by giving her a tour around the palace. All the time during the tour, the princess was silent and nodded politely to everything James said. All of the time, Jason kept glaring at her from behind, causing her to blush furiously. At the end of the tour, Jason coldly went off to a separate chamber because his brother was required to to play host to his future bride still._

_They were alone together in his room, and she didn't say anything. Instead, her skin was as pale as a ghost. James knew what he had to do. Taking in a deep breath, he sat down next to her and broke the silent and took her hand._

_"Your Grace, I hoped that you are enjoying your stay here," James felt foolish because she was crying silently, but he pressed on. "I'm sorry that you and I were forced into this. Is there anything I could do to make you feel more at home?"_

_Nothing._

_"I'm sorry that our kingdom is not what you might expect it to be, but as your future husband, I vow to make you happy here…Princess Marina—"_

_"Mary," she finally said. She turned her head towards him. Tears trickled down from her sapphire eyes and down her cheeks and neck. Following the trails of tears, James saw that she was wearing her engagement-necklace that he had chosen for her. Her dark hair shimmered blue sheen in candle lights. She wiped her tears and tried to smile at him. She was indeed beautiful just like in her portrait._

_"Please, call me Mary. My brother always call me that," she repeated, sniffing away her salty tears. "You are very kind, Your Highness, but you need not do this for me. Your kingdom has so much earth and land instead of tides and water. It's beautiful but I really missed my home. I really missed going into town."_

_James now knew how she had felt. Soon, they began to engage a bit more in conversation and grew more comfortable with each other and they talked the night away, getting to know each other more. Her kingdom was like a city floating on water. They had no horses or carriages, only boats and ships. It turns out that she had a secret. The Princess was born of deity blood. It is said that the sea nymphs and water shades blessed her with a drop of their deity blood, making her the perfect pearl of her land. She explained that very few people in her country are considered special enough to be given with such a wonderful gift that is far more valuable than ten thousand mountains of gold. Because of this, she can live a bit longer than any normal human and stay young until her death. Like any gifts, she can give it away to anyone she desires. James felt awed by it, then decided to ask her to join him and his brother on a tour of his kingdom._

_"Would you, if you're interested?" he asked._

_Mary smiled her warm smile and nodded._

_They then talked throughout the night and they seemed to get along quite well. She mostly asked him about his brother. It seems that she was really interested in knowing about his twin more than the Crown Prince himself. It was strange, but James pushed that aside. They didn't realize that it was midnight and James was getting very sleepy._

_"My birth mother had always sung me to sleep when I was little. I sometime hear them in my dreams," he said, lying down._

_"Would you like me to sing to you?" she asked._

_"I'll send for the guards to guide you to your dorms?" he asked._

_"Don't worry, my prince. I can find my way back to my room," she whispered and began to sing. Even her voice was beautiful. She sang of her home. She sang of the sea and the legendary dragons, mermaids, nymphs, and the creature that thrives in the deep. James was so charmed by her singing that he didn't notice the sun shining into his eyes the next day and that Jason was shaking him really hard._

_"Brother, wake up! Father and the Atlanticeans are distracted by your wedding plans. Let's go out into town for a bit!"_

_"But I promised Mary of a tour today."_

_"Mary? Now you're calling her by her nickname?" Jason was turning red furiously._ _James tried to think up of something to calm his brother down before he throws a guard out of their windows._

_"She's not so bad, in fact, she seems nice! There's something about her that is so…enchanting," But his brother wasn't listening. Jason didn't want to listen anymore about this new future sister-in-law of his. He just wanted to get out. To get away from all of this mess. To get away from HER!_

_"Jason, please," James pleaded, grabbing his brother by the elbow before he could storm off._

_"Let go!" Jason yelled, but his brother wouldn't._

_"No, I won't! I won't let go, Jason. Please, just give her a chance."_

_"I thought that you promised me that your marriage won't change anything between us!" Jason said in frustration, yet his eyes show no sign of them. How could his brother do this? How could he when he promised that his marriage won't change anything between them? It's that girl's fault! It's her fault! She saw this and caused a gap between them. And now James is falling for it. But not Jason. He will not fall for her enchanting spell or whatever witchcraft she had casted! "You've fallen for her haven't you? You promised me that nothing will change between us, not even her! And you've let it happened!"_

_"It's not! But I think that maybe we should just try to accept this. Princess Mary seems very nice. I know that you won't want to come with me and that you believe that you'll never accept her, but will you please give her a chance for my sake?" James then let go of his brother, hoping that what he'd said would make Jason understand him._

_Jason didn't look at his brother in the eye, but on the ground. Was James wrong? Or was it him who is wrong? Things have been so tense these past few weeks, perhaps the news of his brother's marriage just rushed the two brothers so and a curtain of frustration has fallen between them. James was right, he should just give this princess a chance._

_There was a moment of uneasy silence between them. James couldn't bare the tormenting silence anymore and began to open his mouth when Jason replied with determination._

_"All right," Jason said, both of them looking at each other. "I'll accompany you with the princess on this tour. But for now, let's just take this in slowly."_

_James smiled and dragged his brother by the arm out to the garden where they were soon joined by the princess and Lobo and __Löwe_. It has been a while since they had went out to a nearby town. It was the place where many folks took kindly on the princes and their guest. They went from shop to shop and the baker, the blacksmith, the weaver, the miller, and the children greeted them with pleasure. While Mary happily walked around the town square, Jason asked his brother what was the Princess liked. James told him everything about her. "She prefers to be called Mary. But the strangest thing is that she's interested in you."

_"Me? Why?" Jason asked, paying a man for their lunch. He handed his brother an apple as they turned a corner._

_"Thank you," he said. "I don't know, but she was really sweet. I shouldn't tell you this but last night she said that—"_

_"Your Highnesses?"_

_Both boys looked up to find Lowe looking down on them. "Perhaps our young guest would like to meet your other village friends, hm?"_

_"That's a wonderful idea, __Löwe_," James said, then turned to his brother is whispered quietly. "I think that it's best if she tells you."

* * *

_Not far away, the Oracle was watching the princes introducing their guest to their village friends. They soon began exchanging questions on where her homeland is and how it is different from theirs. Soon, one of them asked if she would be interested in playing a little game of ball with them. No sooner than later, all of the village friends began to kick the old and tattered ball while the three royal ones sat by and watch._

_"So what would you want to consult to me about, __Löwe_?" said the Oracle, not looking behind her. She didn't need to turn around to know that he was here. "And why are you not guarding them with Lobo down there? Surely the Shadow Lion of Night wouldn't have another one of his rare feeling of bad omens_, would he?_"

_"I am sorry, madam," said the young knight in black armor. He knelt down with respect before getting up. "I have a feeling that something wasn't right with your prophecy last night. You said that the most fitting son of the King would be blessed with that of Atlanticean's greatest treasure. Did you mean the princess?"_

_"__Löwe_, you know very well that I cannot be specific about my telling," The Oracle sighed, sitting down on a beautiful white carved chair fit for a queen. _Löwe_ decided to make note that although the Oracle's lifestyle is a bit simpler, it was a bit more elegant than Pelius. "The great Spirits of the Elements can only tell me what is to come. I can reassure you that, yes; the Atlanticean's greatest treasure does have a connection to their princess. But be warned, my dear friend."

_Without warning, the Oracle quickly appeared in front of him. He wasn't surprised. After all, she possessed the power given to her from the ancient deities. Yet, he was surprised to find her gentle smiling face up closed. She appeared to be about the age of seventeen or younger. One of her many shape-shifting forms. Her eyes suddenly changed from clear to deep without end as though he's looking into the eyes of a witch. Placing a kiss on his lips, she whispered in a tone as though possessed by many spirits that would just chill your whole body._

"An evil being will seek the blood of the one closest to you, and he shall stop at nothing from spilling bloodshed."

_"What do you mean?" Löwe cried, but her form was slowly fading away like a ghost. "What will happen to the young ones? Who is this demon of which you speak of? Tell me! How can I stop this from happening?"_

"On the night of the red moon, this evil shall become unstoppable unless the hunted can pierce the black heart will the Blade of Light. If not, then history shall repeat itself again and again…"

_She slowly disappeared, leaving __Löwe_ alone in a small manor with the moon shining through the window. Time is running out…

* * *

Flowing back to the present, the Oracle sipped her tea and looked to the sky. "Don't go out alone tonight, Kouichi-kun," she warned quietly, placing her empty cup down. "Because if you do, you'll be falling into his hands."

* * *

A few miles away, two young boys were walking home towards their father's house. They seemed normal for two young boys. Others would see them as friends. And indeed they are. Kouichi listened patiently as his brother told him what Takuya did in class the other day by breaking a window of their teacher's class once. They both laughed when Kouji explained that their teacher looked like a red gorilla when he started yelling at the innocent-looking Takuya. Yes, Kouji and Kouichi were sure that this would be a summer to remember. With friends to hang out with and spending time together while their mother was away, this would be something for both of them to remember forever.

But little did they knew, a presence is watching them from afar. This person was cloaked in shadows and the person's eyes would just paralyze you and you would become the prey. Slowly, that sickly mouth of that person curled upward, forming a nasty and sinister smile.

"Yes, that's right," said the figure is shadow coldly, "this will be a summer that you will remember forever…"

**Author's Note: Europe was named after Europa in Greek mythology…she was a lucky wife of Zeus to have escaped his queen's treacherous plot…The Oracle is like the immortal being in this story and she usually doesn't give specific telling to people like in real life…the one about Croesus was true and she was claimed by the Greek sun god Apollo in Greek mythology.**


	6. Girls and News, What's New?

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Five: Girls and News, What's New?**

It was now past noon and the sun was still high in the sky. The day had been pleasant enough so far to say the least. After breakfast at the Orimoto's restaurant, the six children went out into town. During the weekends, Shibuya is always bustling with people as though there is a festival going on. Those who are out from the city might have thought it has something to do with the festival or the cherry blossoms viewing event during the spring. But as locals all know, Shibuya is _always _busy. And since it is Obon Festival, the city is even more crowded than ever. Shibuya is famous part of Tokyo and is still widely know for its many shops and fashion trend. And as such, Izumi had been dying to spend her weekend in these stores. Being the only girl in their special group, it was no wonder that the other boys passed when she asked if they would like to join her. After all, clothing was not interesting to them at all. Junpei, who always wanted to impress his crush, volunteered to go with her but she kindly turned him down since he was practically the only one jumping eagerly at the chance to be with her. This is not what she had in mind.

"No offense, Junpei-kun," said Izumi as she was about to turn a corner of the street and go her separate way. "But it's better when girls shop together and discussed their taste more freely and not feel embarrassed about it in front of boys. Beside, Chiaki and the girls invited me. And they would probably laugh at you for tagging along."

So the boys happily went their separate ways, except for Junpei who was quite disappointed with his fleeting fortune. With nothing more to do, Kouji and Kouichi said good-bye to their friends and went their separate ways towards Kouji's house. Taking the train, the twins arrived at the district of their father's home in due time. The rest of the walk was more peaceful, leaving the noisy and crowded city behind.

Little did they knew that a white dog and a black cat were following them both. It wasn't difficult for Lobo and Löwe to sneak onto the train and keeping their distance from their targets, but it was more so when they lost track of the twins when both of them turned a corner.

Frustrated, Lobo paced back and forth while his friend sat on top of a transformer, keeping his eyes out for their targets.

"I can't believe you lost them!" Lobo growled.

"Don't blame me, you're the one who was turned into a dog. You're supposed to follow their scent!" Löwe retorted.

"I didn't have the chance to get close to one of them to familiarize their scent!" Lobo snapped, pausing for a brief moment to scratch his ears. "Keep looking, they couldn't have gone too far."

"Wait! I see them!" cried Löwe, pointing his paw to the north and indicating that the twins were heading in that direction. "If we both hurry we might be able to catch to them in no time."

"Then let's move!"

Without another word, Löwe jumped off of the transformer and landed softly on the back of his friend. It was amazing for an ordinary looking cat to jump from that height. But then again, Löwe wasn't a normal cat. He possessed the ability to perform the more complex movement of any ordinary feline and has a stronger scent due to his training centuries ago.

With great speed and agility, Lobo ran as fast as he could with his friend clinging to his hide by his claws. "You are going to shred my hide off one of these days if you keep doing that!"

"Just shut up and keep moving." Löwe's reply was then followed by the sound of beating paws on cemented ground.

* * *

"Her story wasn't that bad," said Kouichi, laughing because Kouji had been mumbling about how nonsense Izumi's story was.

_Typical of him, criticizing things that seems fantasize and mystical_, the older twin thought amusingly. "I thought that it was interesting. After all, listening to legends from other regions is better than the Japanese ones that we already know," he said.

"I suppose," said Kouji, "It's just that legends and mythologies aren't really my thing. It all seems too childish for me."

"I don't think that's really true at all," Kouichi laughed again. "They're not good enough for you, is that what you really mean, Kouji?"

"Hey!" Kouji replied. He was getting a little bit annoyed by his brother teasing. Sure he loved him, but there are times when Kouichi can get a bit over board with his teasing.

"I'm sure it's not entirely your fault that stuffs like that are beneath you," Kouichi replied, a bit softer this time.

He should stop teasing Kouji now. Kouichi may be older than his brother, and even though Kouji is a bit less of a people's person than he is himself, Kouichi still knows his own limits and understood what Kouji was feeling through and through. Why, just this morning, a girl from their school just walked up to their table at the restaurant and asked Kouji out. The girl was one of Izumi's friend and classmate named Ami Tsujimura. Kouichi had to admit to himself that he also thought that she was cute looking, no offense. But like all of the girls in school, she was just as attracted to the twins' exterior looks. They all liked Kouji for his cool attitude and Kouichi for his sweet and understanding personality. Kouichi found the girls quite friendly and nice, but his brother, on the other hand, found them to be quite annoying. To him, they were all the same, save for Izumi because she's an automatic friend in their group.

Those girls always wanted to get to know Kouji because of they are attracted to his exteriors qualities, such as his appearance. Some of these girls would gloat that she personally knew him best, but Kouji and his friends knew that it wasn't true. The whole school thoguht of him as the savior of the Kendo Club, who liked music, hangs out with his friends, and the good-looking boy without an official girlfriend. Almost every girl in their grade levels, lower or even higher had asked him out, but the outcome was always the same; _**No**_.

One time a really good looking girl from the gymnastic team asked him to the dance. Everyone thought that she would be the one to succeed. To everyone's disappointment, she was turned down instantly. Takuya thought that the reason was because she was a year older than him and a good deal a foot taller. That would be weird. Have a girlfriend who is taller than you is a bit strange for an eye to behold. But no. The main reason Kouji had turn them all down was because he knew that they only asked him for his exterior supplies. He doesn't want that at all.

As for Ami, she politely greeted her friend, Izumi, and popped the question to Kouji after that, although she was really shy. Her words began to stuttered a bit when she started and Kouichi could tell that Ami's cheeks were really red, no matter how well she tried to hide them with her hair. Seeing how incredibly handsome he looked and with those cool blue eyes staring at her, Ami blushed furiously some more. She had asked Kouji if he would like to come to the Obon night festival with her. Izumi smiled at her friend's courage, but her smile quickly disappeared when Kouji had, once again, turned her friend down flat.

Poor Ami. After saying that she understood why, she turned around and headed straight for her table but to add insult to injury, she almost tripped over the legs of Kouji's chair and fell flat on her face. Luckily, she managed her balance and walked back to her own table outside.

After that performance, everyone at his table just stared at him. Izumi even stopped to critisize Takuya when he was forced to eat a new dish.

"Why didn't you accepted her? She was really nice!" said Izumi in a disapproved tone.

"Yeah, I mean Ami's a good friend of Izumi-chan here, but you could've just let her down easier," Junpei sneered as usual, siding with Izumi with every opportunity that he gets, even though the dumping was such a common little thing.

"She wasn't my type," Kouji answered flatly, sticking his silver fork into a ram's horn shaped pasta with tomato sauces over it.

"And that's why you'll never have a girlfriend," Takuya remarked as a matter of factly. "I mean it's not entirely your fault that you refuse to be happy."

"I don't need a girlfriend or your sassy opinions!" Koji answered bitterly.

"Sassy? I'm not being sassy. I just don't think you could ever find one with that attitude," Takuya leaned back casually, but the tone was still there to insult.

"I don't need to hear this!" Kouji spat. "I don't see what's so different about this when it comes to you, too."

It was true. More girls liked to watch Kouji practicing his moves during Kendo Club meeting than it is for Takuya getting scores on the soccer field.

"At least I don't turn them down as coldly as you just did to Ami," said Takuya as a matter of factly. This time, the two of them are getting into a fight again.

"Oh will you two shut up! Geez!" Izumi screamed. "I can't believe you two would have your little spat over Ami. Takuya, you shouldn't critisize Kouji like that…and Kouji…I think that you could have let Ami off a bit easier. Really, I just don't understand why you refused every single girl who asked you."

* * *

"I was wondering the same thing, too, Kouji," said Kouichi, getting back to the present as the two of them stopped at Kouji's front door.

A hand went into Kouji's pocket as he searched for his copy of the house key. "I meant what I said, Nii-san," Kouji shook his head. "Ami wasn't my type and that I don't need a girlfriend to be happy. I have you, Mom, Dad, Satomi, and our annoying goggle-head and his friends."

"That's true, but it wouldn't hurt to see you happily talking to a girl for once. I don't mean Izumi, by the way," said Kouichi.

"Nah, I think she's going with Takuya," Kouji smiled deviously as he opened the door.

"What do you mean? She's always making fun of him," Kouichi wasn't getting it.

"Doesn't mean that she hates him," Kouji smirked. "And didn't you noticed that she always yelling at him more than at any of us?" Once inside, Kouji bent down to take off his shoes and put on his house slippers. He didn't need to look around to know that he had definitely caught his brother off guard.

"Are you saying that there's a thing going on between them?" Kouichi blinked in surprise. How could his brother, of all people, notice something like that. And Kouji's the one who's an anti-girl martial artist here in the group!

"I didn't say that," Kouji answered, but Kouichi noticed a secret laugh behind those innocent blue eyes of his. "All I said is that Izumi yells at Takuya more than at us, that's all. And they're going to the festival tonight together."

"But surely, you're implying on something here," said Kouichi. Copying his brother, he took off his shoes and made his way down the hall and into the kitchen.

"I'm not implying anything. Why would I?"

Kouichi wanted to talk back, but them he realized his brother's scheme. He relaxed and smiled.

"Because you're _you_, Kouji, and I know you," kouichi said triumphantly, his arms folded. "And right now, I know that you're implying something on them to get my mind off from your real reason."

His brother sighed. _Damn, he was good._ Kouji was sure that he could have gotten away with it this time. It had always work on his friends before, but when when it comes to Kouichi, he couldn't fool his brother completely. "Okay, I'll tell. I didn't accept Ami's invitation because I didn't feel like she's the one. She's nice, but not the one for me. I don't want a girl to like me for my exterior qualities, but for what I really truly am."

"So, you're saying, that you don't mind a girlfriend?" Kouichi smiled.

"Not really. I really don't need one, but I guessed that it wouldn't be bad to have a girl who really understands you truly enough." Kouji had finally said it. It was a little bit embarrassing but he said it. "But really, I don't think that there's any girl like that in this blasted city." said Kouji, regaining his usual nature.

"I think you're wrong, and there might be one. You just haven't met her yet." Kouichi smiled. Typical of Kouji, trying to rubbed off the subject when it was getting a bit too mushy for him. "So when are we leaving for the festival? Tomoki said to meet up at the front gate, right?"

"Yeah. I think that we can go around six. And Kouichi?" said Kouji.

"Yes?"

"Please don't tell the others or anyone what I just said."

Kouichi smiled. Naturally his brother doesn't want the others to hear what he'd just admitted. "Of course I won't."

"Kouji? Kouichi? Is that you?" said a familiar voice. It was coming from the kitchen.

"Yes, Satomi," replied Kouji. The twin finished their talk and walked through the door and into the kitchen. There, stood their step-mother, Satomi Minamoto, in her favorite salmon pink blouse and her white cooking apron over her baby-blue skirt. Satomi was surprisingly young looking, for a woman in her mid-forties. She had short brown hair and eyes, with a pair of frameless glasses over them. Her husband and the boys' father, Kousei Minamoto, was sitting at the dinner table. He was going over his companies paper work as the boys walked towards the table. Kousei was the proud owner of a successful company that helps finance large companies, tycoons, and researching incorporations. Occasionally, he would even finance a few personal research projects such as the one proposed by a local marine biologist on the study of mutations in sharks. The two brothers pulled up their own chairs when they were soon joined by Satomi, carrying the dishes full of stir-fried vegetables and squids to eat with their bowls of rice.

"Kousei, could you finish your paperwork after dinner?" said Satomi, giving her husband one of her disapproving looks. Satomi was one of those wives who believed that eating dinner means no reading, watching T.V., or doing any other activities beside talking. She wanted all of them to sit down during dinner and act like a real family.

"Alright, alright, honey," said Kousei, putting his paperworks at one side.

The four of them ate in silence at first, only after giving the traditional greetings into eating the food well enough and in peace. Satomi was the first to break the silence by asking the twins how was their ghost stories night at the Orimoto's restaurant.

"It was fine," said Kouji stoicly.

"Any interesting stories?" Satomi asked, turning her attention to his brother.

"There was one," Kouichi nodded.

"Who's was it?" she asked.

"It was Izumi," he replied. "Something that's from England or was it...Lusteria?"

"Speaking of England," Kousei finally spoke, swallowing his rice and squid. "I have a surprise for you all."

Kouji looked up at his father with an arched eyebrow in curiosity and so did Kouichi. It wasn't unusual for their father to make an announcement. Most of the time, it involves business of the sort. And when it comes to business, it comes to a possible moving.

"Don't tell me that we're moving again?" Satomi said first. "We were all really settling down in this district."

"No, dear," Kousei replied calmly. "Hopefully not for a very long time, as I promised you."

"Then what is it?" she insisted.

"Lord James Clairebourne have invited us to dinner this weekend." Kousei smiled, waiting for that gasping surprise of happiness from his family members. Satomi was shocked, just as her husband suspected. But it was in a normal way that she would have shown it. She clasped her hands together like a little girl and smiled.

"Oh, are you sure," she asked him. "What is it for?"

For the boys, it took them awhile to be familiar with that name. "Isn't he and his family members of a foreign royal branch or something, Dad?" said Kouji.

"Yes, Satomi, I'm sure of it," Kousei told his wife then turn to his sons. "The Clairebournes are noblemen and yes, son, that does mean that they're part of a foreign royal family."

"Then what's a bunch of foreign nobles doing here in Japan anyway?" Kouji said.

"Kouji!" Kouichi warned under his breath. But the boy cannot deny the fact that he was curious, too.

The Clairebournes were a smaller branch of the Royal Family from England, or so say most people on the street. James Clairebourne and his family had moved to Tokyo last year or so while the rest of his brothers and sisters are scattered around the world. They resided in a western looking manor that sits on top of a hill just outside of the city. Kouichi knew that barely any citizens of Tokyo were lucky enough to be in the presence of their nation's emperor, let alone a member from a foreign one.

"That is their personal matter," Kousei replied in that tone of his whenever Kouji gets condescending about his business news. "The reason that James Clairebourne is inviting us is because he wants me to help finances a project of his brother-in-law."

"Shouldn't he be the one to do it instead?" Kouji asked in a bored tone.

"That's a matter of his own reason and you should be relieved for that, son," replied Kousei as a matter of factly. Finishing their bowls of rice, the father continued. "If Clairebourne-dono means well for my financial group and approved, it could mean a better life for all of us."

"Well, that's wonderful that such a respected man have some interest in your investment," Satomi praised.

Kouji excused himself from the table, leaving Kouichi behind with his parents. Kouichi congratulated his father and he, too, excused himself and ran upstairs after his brother. Going into their room, Kouichi can't help but think that Kouji couldn't care less about their father's news, but more of something else.

He saw that Kouji was lying face up on his bed when Kouichi came in. He was in a relaxed position with his head on top of his palms and his expression as though without a care what had just happened downstairs. It didn't look like a sulking moment for Kouji but that was what it was. Kouichi sighed and sat down on his own bed facing his brother.

"Well that was new," said Kouji sarcastically. "Another financial business convergence but only this time, he's involving us directly."

"The Clairebourne nobleman?" His brother asked.

"No, Dad!" said Kouji, a little bit harsher than he had meant. He sat up furiously and stare at his brother. "Do you know what this means, Nii-san?"

"I do know that his company could get more credits and customers," Kouichi replied. It was true about that. But he also had a feeling what Kouji would say next.

"And do you know what will happen if that actually happens?" said Kouji, but not unkindly.

"You, Dad, and Satomi might move again and it might be farther this time," Kouichi answered. It was true. Because of their father's job, Kouji had to move a lot in the past few years. Changing from school to school, it was almost impossible for him to make friends when he's not settled. But luckily, when he and his brother had found each others, Kousei was able to hold a position so that his family could stay near Shibuya long enough for them all to settle down. But now that their father had been offered a chance to fry a bigger fish, the three of them just might moved farther than they are now, making it impossible for the twins to see each others.

"What if his company goes global and we have to move out of the country?" said Kouji. He couldn't bear the thought of leaving his home city. Leaving his friends, his brother, and his mother…

"But we don't know that yet?" Kouichi insisted firmly. He didn't want the two of them to be separated. Not by this. "And even if that happens, you have a choice, don't you? You once said that we wouldn't be separated again no matter what."

Kouji sat up and stared at his brother. Rarely had he ever seen his twin spoke up and as determined as that. Usually it was the other way around. The way Kouichi spoke made him realized that what he said was true. "You're right, Nii-san," Kouji smiled. "I do have a choice and whatever happens, I'd rather that we stayed together."

* * *

Unknown to the twins, an odd couple consisted of a black cat and white dog were watching them from the street. Lobo sat behind a bush under the kitchen's window while Löwe peeped into a second floor window to confirm his finding. Lobo was getting a bit impatient, but he didn't show it, even though his tail gave him away.

"Well?" Lobo asked, straining his neck to look up. He didn't have to wait long before his friend came down with the news.

"Yes, I'm sure of it," Löwe said to his friend. "The princes are inside their room talking. We are lucky to find them again before Dusk could even show up."

"Yes, but how are we going to protect them this time?" Lobo asked.

"First, we have to get their attention," Löwe replied, jumping on Lobo's back as the dog got up. "We'll try to find a way into their lives as the lovable pets we are. After that, we can try to convince them of the danger."

"And how are we going to get them to take us in?" Lobo asked. He wasn't sure what trick they would use this time. "And don't beg for food this time."

"Actually, I was thinking of going to the Obon festival this time," Löwe smiled deviously.

"But does it involve you begging?" Lobo repeated.

"Can't hurt to try again. And admit it," Löwe said, looking down at his friend's ears. "You haven't eaten in days and you're starving, too."

True, his stomach was grumbling. Sighing in defeat, Lobo gave into his plan. "How far is this festival?"

Two hours later, they were once again, following the twins to the Obon festival, not knowing that a pair of blue eyes will be watching them from afar.

**Author's Note: Ami will play an important role in this story, so keep an eye out for her!**


	7. The Obon Festival and the Oracle

**Author's Note: This chapter was supposed to be longer, but it got too long and I decided to cut it in two. Don't expect any fast updates though, but do please read and review. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll write this story and update faster. This has got to be one of the longest chapters that I had ever written, but I'm proud of it.**

**Disclaimers: Don't own it, never will.**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Six: The Obon Festival and the Oracle**

In the summer, Obon is followed with the tradition of darkness and light. This year's Obon was going to be another big celebration. After a night of ghost stories at Izumi's place, the whole gang was going to go to the Obon festival the next evening. It was traditional for them in their little group activities. They planned to enjoy it as the start of summer vacation.

Kouji and Kouichi were getting into their yukatas. Because the Obon Festival is held in the summer, it would be crazy to wear a kimono. Yukatas are lighter and a bit more comfortable for motive activities. And like any twins would do, their yukatas were similar in design and color. Only Kouji's is dark blue with a dark purple obi while Kouichi's is dark purple with a dark blue obi. After saying good-bye to their father and Satomi, the twins slipped on their getas and were off.

During their walk, Kouji asked how their mother was. It has been two weeks since he'd last seen her. At that time, he could clearly see for himself that Tomoko was getting better. After years of being ill from sadness, they finally were able to find a doctor who could help her.

"She's doing great," Kouichi replied. "I was feeling a little bit guilty for letting her go to Osaka by herself."

"But she's better now right?" Kouji asked. "I mean, Mom seems a bit more cheerful than she was two months ago."

"Yeah," his brother replied. "I'm really glad about that. I didn't know how much longer she could last. But ever since she went to see that doctor, everything else falls into place and things were getting better."

"Well, I'm glad that we don't have to worry about her illness much in the future." Koji stopped his brother since the street they were about to cross was pouring with passing cars. All around them were people in colorful yukatas and they were all heading to the festival closest to them. Some were heading in the same direction as the twins. Others to the harbor.

"The doctor said it was M.E.," Kouichi replied. "He said that because she was suffering from emotional pain and exhaustion, she might suffer from it."

"But that doctor said that all she needed was rest and time?" Kouji asked.

"Yeah," Kouichi replied. The crossing light turned green again and they began their journey along with two dozen people. "But still, I felt a bit guilty for letting her go to Osaka alone."

"But Mom's better now, she has a new job, a better pay, and we get to see each other more often this summer. You shouldn't worry so much, Nii-san," Kouji reassured.

"You're right," Kouichi smiled. "And besides, Mom's with her cousins in Osaka. I guess she'll be fine under their care."

The twins made it to the front gate of the festival. At the gate were Junpei and Tomoki. Junpei's yukata was a darker yellow with a blue obi while Tomoki's was lime green with a white obi. The four of them exchange their evening greetings and were later joined by Izumi. She was followed by Takuya who was trailing behind her a few feet. His face was sulking while Izumi's was a bit furious and offended. Although Junpei complimented her for looking fine in her purple and pink yukata, her anger didn't subside one bit towards Takuya.

"What happened this time?" Kouji mocked.

"Why don't you ask the goggle-head?" Izumi spat, still not looking in Takuya's direction.

"I said I was sorry!" said Takuya, trying to defend himself. "I forgot that I was supposed to take Shinya to his friends' house!"

"And you left me standing at that corner waiting for an hour!" Izumi argued.

Kouichi could tell that his brother was grinning with amusement while Tomoki was wide-eyed. Even he could see that his guardian-liked figure of a friend, Takuya, was pushing Izumi over the edge. Sure he looked up to Takuya as a second older brother, but there are times when Tomoki was certain that Takuya just doesn't get the big picture when it comes to offending Izumi. Junpei on the other hand was predictable. Always siding with Izumi, he always found faults in Takuya or Kouji's action towards her that are related to anything that would offend her by any means.

"You could at least call me before hand!" Izumi turned around, her face red as a tomato. "I was beginning to think that you stood me up!"

"I'm sorry, I forgot!" said Takuya.

"You should have gone with me instead, Izumi-chan," Junpei jumped in, hoping to change her mind. "You know that I wouldn't do something like that to you."

But Izumi wasn't paying him any attention. Her anger towards Takuya just can't be put on hold for someone who's always flirting with her.

"Can we go now?" said a voice.

All of them turned to face Tomoki who had been quiet since the others' arrival.

"It's the Obon Festival and we shouldn't fight," he pleaded. "Can't you just forgive Takuya this once, Izumi?"

"You do kinda over-react over small things, you know," Kouji said as Izumi gave him a death glare. Kouji wasn't taken aback. He had seen worse.

Izumi didn't snapped back at him, but but she does seemed a bit guilty for ruining their fun night and for Tomoki. It only lasted a second or so, but then she placed her hands on her hips and said firmly, "I'll forgive Takuya if he promises to never leave me hanging out in the streets again." Tomoki smiled in relief but she wasn't finish. Turning to face Takuya, she said, "And if you're really sorry, you'll treat me this evening." And with that, she strolled past the gate and into the first booth that she saw.

_**"WHAT?"**_ Takuya yelled in shock.

"You've heard her," said Kouji, a wider grin on his face. He turned and grabbed Kouichi by the arm and dragged his twin and himself inside. Tomoki followed suit and Junpei turned to face Takuya and said, "I give in if I were you." And with that, he met up with Izumi at the booth, leaving Takuya dumb-struck at the gate.

Pulling himself together, Takuya could only muttered a few curses under his breath. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

* * *

The festival was like a carnival actually. The entire park was set up like a huge circus. Rows and rows of booths filled with games and activities. There were food stands with grilled, sizzling meat and vegetables for hunger customers. Sweet treats like cotton candy and lollipops for the sweet tooth. There were rides such as the Ferris-wheels, swinging Viking ship, roller-coasters, and rotating swings intertwining around the park. The variations of activities booths and tents were full of the usual games or the promise of offering new ones. The first booth that they went over to was a ring tossing game. Instead of the usual ring tossing into a couple of polls on the ground, they had to throw them at live ducks. This only made the game more difficult because unlike polls, ducks tend to _move_ around, making it harder to aim for their necks. This seemed a bit cruel at first, but the rings were made of light plastic and would only tap the animals gently, slightly brushing their feathers.

The gallery of prizes varied from small key chains to large stuffed duck toys. The booth was a bit crowded with customers not for the prizes, but for the fun of tossing the rings. Tomoki, being the "game-prince" of the group decided that he liked the challenge and lined up for his turn immediately. There was a sign at top of the booth saying, "_Whoever can get 20 rings in a row will receive a special prize!_"

"I wonder what the special prize is," Izumi wondered.

"Well it's probably something big," said Takuya, shrugging his shoulders in response. "I mean c'mon! Who could toss twenty rings around the necks of _waddling _ducks in a row? It's impossible."

Unfortunately for him, this remark only encouraged the others a bit more. Tomoki wanted to prove his title as the best game player of the group paid 100 yens for each five plastic rings. Junpei, as usual for wanting to impress Izumi, rolled up the sleeves of his yukata paid double the price that Tomoki paid for twice the sets of rings. _This way_, he thought, _I can improve my chances of winning and impress Izumi-chan! I'll show Takuya that I'm not just all bronze!_

Izumi folded her arms and smirked a bit. "Well," she said. "I guess there are some people who _believe _that they can do it, unlike someone I know."

The last sentence just pressed the right button. Takuya turned to face her, eyes wide and fist clenched. Even though he was three months younger than Izumi and was a bit shorter than her on their first encounter, he had grown quite a bit, standing over her without the help of his sandals. Unfortunately, this could not be said for the same thing as his reaction towards her teasing. Even though he had grown a little bit more mature in age and height, his pride hasn't. Kouichi could tell that this was an issue of a challenge to Takuya. As for Kouji, he just stood by and watched. Knowing him, Takuya and Izumi was starting another show. Kouichi gave his brother an odd look. _Was Kouji right? _He thought. _Is there a thing going on between these two? _But Kouji didn't give him any indication to that question.

"Are you saying that you don't think that I can do it?" Takuya declared boldly.

"No, of course not," Izumi replied sarcastically. "I'm just saying that you don't _believe _that you can do it. Maybe you're right…after all, twenty in a row is pretty hard. But I guess it's more of your problem than it is mine if you don't _believe _that you can do it—"

"Fine!" Takuya raised his hands and stopped her before she could continue this conversation any further. "You're talking about scoring twenty goals in a row to a soccer-player here! I always get a goal every time. If I can score twenty goals in a row with a soccer ball, then I don't see why I can't score twenty goals with plastic rings and ducks. I'll _show _you that I do _believe_ in my talent."

And with that, he turned around, paid for his sets of rings and joined Junpei and Tomoki. "Hit me!" he ordered the vendor. It seemed so far, that Junpei had only managed to score at least seven while Tomoki doubled that at fourteen.

Kouji then decided that he was bored and tugged on his brother's sleeve, indicating that they should go.

"We'll catch you later," Kouichi told Izumi, who waved back.

"See you at the food court," she called back.

* * *

After passing through a few booths, the twins came to a stop at a classical one. It was a booth filled with tanks of goldfishes and children and adults alike crowded around them, eager to catch one with a small, flat paper net. It was difficult because when dipping their nets into the water, waiting patiently for the fish to swim over it, they easily lose them as the fish fell through the net and back into the water. The water made the paper nets lose their stiffness, easily losing more yen coins than catching goldfishes.

Even though Kouji felt a bit too old for this game, he decided to go for it along with his brother. They had played this game when they found each other years ago. To Kouji, this was as easy and smooth as cutting butter with a knife, thanks to his quick reflexes from kendo practice. As for Kouichi, it was a little bit difficult for him. Even if he tried to catch a small one where it's lighter and little chances of breaking the net, the little fish still managed to escape his grasp. In the end, Kouji gave him the two fishes that he had caught. One was white with a little black dot on its head and the other black with a white dot. Holding the plastic bag containing the fishes, Kouichi could've sworn that they reminded him of the yin and yang symbol. Kouichi thanked his brother and they went from booths to tents.

After about half an hour of walking around and played a few games, they decided to head to the food court and meet up with the others. On the way, Kouji stepped on something and looked down. It seems to be a small bell attached to a ribbon along with a metal tab with a strange character or a symbol etched into it. Shrugging his shoulders, he picked it up and gave it to Kouichi. Kouichi was having second thoughts about his fishes from this.

"Maybe you should keep them, Kouji," Kouichi suggested, handing his bag of fishes to Kouji. "After all, you caught them. I know they can't replace Hiroki but—"

"No, Nii-san," Kouji stopped him. Kouichi thought that once again, he went a bit too far. He had stirred up old wounds. First it was his mother, and now his brother. Why can't he say anything right without hurting people? But Kouji turned to him and continued, "I want you to have them. Did you used to say that you always wanted your own pet?"

Kouichi nodded. Yes he did say that, back when he was still a toddler. He would beg his grandmother to keep his very own pet, but with the expense of their living, they couldn't afford one, let alone care for it.

"Well, then here's your chance to own two, Nii-san," Kouji smiled, giving the fishes back to his brother. "Besides, I think they like you more." It was a joke and Kouichi laughed a bit. This seemed to cheer the both of them up as they turned a corner at a sakura tree and into the food court.

"So are you going to name them?" Kouji asked.

Kouichi shook his head in response. "No, but to tell you the truth," he paused just for a bit. "I rather preferred having a cat than fishes."

"Why?" Kouji questioned, a bit curious.

The answer suddenly came to him in a flash. It reminded Kouichi of the little black cat at school and he had been wondering about it. "There was this cat I met yesterday. It looked so thin and hungry that I couldn't resist giving away all of my fried fishes. When I walked home and passed the pet shop and saw a smaller version of Hiroki, it reminded me of it for some strange reason."

Kouji gave him a confused look, not understanding where this was going. But he soon got his answer.

"It's so strange, but…never mind." Kouichi brushed the idea aside, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"What?"

"It's nothing really," Kouichi objected.

"You can tell me," Kouji reassured, promising him that he won't laugh or do anything like that of the sort.

"I felt as though I've seen that cat somewhere before. I know that it was my first time seeing it, but for a second there," he paused, trying to find the right words to described his thoughts. "I thought that I recognized its eyes."

He turned to face Kouji, but to no surprised, his face was motionless but his eyes tell all.

"Nii-san," Kouji started, pondering about this. "You mentioned the same thing with Izumi's story last night. And now this. Are you trying to tell me that you're experiencing déjà vu?"

Kouichi was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable about this subject as he replied, "Maybe…I…I don't know. It's all so strange. Maybe I'm just imagining things."

Before Kouji could speak, he heard their names being called. The twins looked up to see the others waving at them. They all seemed to be holding shish-kabobs of grilled meat and vegetables along with tea. They'd managed to find a table under a sakura tree with enough seats for all six of them. Kouichi gave his brother a small smile before pocketing the bell in his pocket and running off to join them. Kouji decided to push their previous conversation aside and followed Kouichi just seconds behind.

**www**

Lobo was getting impatient. He and his friend had run across town, followed the twins and had to somehow get their attention. Truthfully he was getting a bit annoyed. He was impatient to get to the boys and warn them of the danger. But no, they had to do this discreetly. The last time they had tracked down the twins a hundred years ago was a lot easier. Maybe because during their previous incarnations had lived in a cottage in the forest of France…without hundreds of people to stare at them? Lobo could still not believe that the population had tripled or even more than that in just a century.

But for now, he had to concentrate on their plan. First off, he was on guard duty. While Löwe is watching the twins on top of the sakura tree over their heads, Lobo has to hide in the bush under it that was next to the children's table. What was he on the lookout for? That vampire bastard, Dusk, for one is on the top priority list of watch dog is a duh. Just the thought of him made Lobo want to bit his head off. Second, he had to be sure that the coast is clear and few people with them as possible. Lobo, being turned into a dog he is, has an incredible sixth sense. He can sniff and tell if a person means any harm or not at all. He had to take great care that the twins aren't in danger, but he highly doubted it much what with too many people around. And third, he had a feeling that _she _is here.

So far, the twins were just sitting with their friends eating and talking. Nothing unusual with that. But the sight and smell of their food was just torture to him. Löwe was right. He hadn't eaten in days and he was starving. This is just another bad side of being turned into animals for them. He and Löwe had to scavenge for food for decades since they are vagabonds. How he wished that they were human again. They had once dined with the King and Queen of Lusteria as royal guests. And now they've been reduced to two small animals, trailing behind the foot of their masters.

Löwe ignored their hunger as it gnawed their stomach. After finishing their conversation, the six children got up and walked away. This was probably their only chance now. He leapt from the tree and landed smoothly and lightly on Lobo's back. Nudging his friend's ear, he said, "There's our chance, my friend! Let's go!"

"About time!" Lobo replied, getting up and running after them.

"Just remember to act like a dog first," Löwe instructed.

"Are you sure that they'll be safe?" Lobo asked.

"Of course I'm sure," his friend replied. "I placed that charm in their path so that the princes will find it. One of them already has it in his pocket. It will keep them safe for us for the time being and will lead them to her."

"I hope that you're right, my friend," Lobo said. "I hoped that you're right."

* * *

"See, I told you I could do it," Takuya gloated, waving the grand prize in Izumi's face.

"Whatever," Izumi replied as though she doesn't care. Grabbing the tickets out of his hands, she flipped through them to read the labels. "Two tickets to a free dinner at the _La Vie en Rose_? Is this for real?"

"You mean that fancy French restaurant?" Kouji asked in surprised.

"Why don't you see it for yourself Minamoto!" said Takuya, taking another bite of his shish-kabob.

Izumi gave the tickets to Kouichi who handed one to his brother. The twins read the text word by word. It was true. These are tickets to the _La Vie en Rose_. Winning a large stuff animal from a game booth is one thing but this is just ridiculous!

"How can that booth afford those tickets?" Tomoki asked, taking a small bite of his cotton candy. He was a little bit disappointed in losing to Takuya. He was so close to winning to retain his title but lost at nineteen. It was so close. Tomoki was just moments away from winning when his last ring was ricocheted by Junpei's and they both missed their marks.

"He's right," Izumi added. "Even a monthly free dinner pass to my family restaurant cost a lot of money. You guys are just lucky that I let you eat there for free."

"Who cares," Takuya said, shrugging his shoulders as Kouichi handed Izumi back the tickets. "I know my own skill and won, baby!"

Izumi rolled her eyes and sigh. _Typical, _she thought to herself. _You dared a guy to play a game with ducks, he won and then he rubs it in your face._

"So who are you going with, Izumi-chan?" Junpei popped the question. The other boys stared at her.

"Why are you all looking at me?" Izumi hissed, a tint of red blossomed on her cheeks. "And besides, Takuya won them, it's his. I don't care."

"**WHAT?**" Takuya cried, eyes wide in shock. "No way! You're not dumping them on me! I won that game to show you that I do believe that I can win."

"So you're saying you did it for me?" she mocked.

Junpei gasped. _I knew it! _He thought. _There is a thing going on between them!_

"Yes—I mean no! I mean…um…" Takuya stuttered, not wanting his friends to get the wrong idea, but it seemed that he's getting the wrong idea himself. "Oh forget it! Just take the tickets!"

"But there's two of them," Tomoki pointed out. "It would be a waste to just use just one and throw away the other one."

"Don't look at me, I got soccer practice," Takuya held up his hands to signified that he wouldn't go.

"I'll go with ya, Izumi-chan!" Junpei chirped up, trying to take the opportunity to go on a date with her.

Izumi didn't replied but put the tickets away in her pocket. "It doesn't expire until two weeks. I don't have to go right now."

"So now what?" Kouji asked.

"Well, we've been to every other booths and tents," Takuya replied, shrugging. "But there seems to be nothing new or exciting this year."

"Hey!" Izumi cried, pointing to an elegant looking tent up ahead. "What's that?"

As they got closer to it, Kouichi felt his skin tingling, not from the sign in front of it, but from the aroma coming from it.

Takuya bent over and read the sign posted in front of it. "It says, '_Consult the Oracle and have your destiny revealed'_. What is this?" he leaned back to take a better look at the tent. It was by no mean a little bit mystical. There were golden embroiders of ocean waves and the sun, moon, and stars decorating the fabrics. The aroma surrounding it was sweet, but they couldn't be sure what type of smell it was. It was a pinch of those incenses from those Buddhist alter and flowers.

"It sounds like fortune-telling!" Tomoki realized.

"That sounds like fun!" Izumi clasped her hands in excitement. "Oh let's give it a try."

"Count me out," Kouji remarked, turning away. "Stuff like this is usually fake. You see these things out on the streets all the time."

"Kill joy," Izumi spat, giving him her disapproving frown. "But at least it's better than nothing. Who knows, this might be different! C'mon!"

Junpei followed her immediately into the tent, leaving the other four waiting outside since the sign did said two people at a time in small print.

After a minute of silent, Tomoki asked, "What do you think Izumi's prediction would be?"

Takuya finished his shish-kabob, threw it away in a nearby trash bin before replying. "Oh you know, the usual stuff. Who's she gonna marry, how many babies she's gonna have and all that crap."

"You can't know that for sure," Kouji commented, not turning to face him.

"I thought you weren't interested in stuffs like this, Kouji," Takuya remarked.

"I don't," Kouji replied.

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Just because!"

"Because you're too cool for it? Or is it because you're afraid of your prediction?"

That tears it. Kouji gave him a menacing glare, but Takuya was unfazed. "Stuff like this doesn't interest me."

"Can't hurt to try it just once," Takuya grinned.

"Look," Tomoki cried. "Here they come."

Izumi and Junpei emerged from the tent, eyes wide and sparkling.

"How was it?" Kouichi asked.

"It was incredible!" Izumi squealed, once again clasping her hands. "She's really amazing! I didn't even say anything and she knew almost everything about me! She said that I am going to be part of an adventure with someone interesting this summer! Just like a fairy tale!"

"Yeah," Junpei agreed. "You guys should have seen her. She was really amazing. There were no crystal balls or magical magnifying glasses. Her method is gonna leave you speechless!"

"Plus, she's really pretty, too!" Izumi added. "And her voice is so enchanting…"

"No way!" Takuya remarked.

"There's got to be a trick here," Kouji added.

Kouichi didn't know what to say. As for Tomoki, he was smiling.

"Really? For real?" he asked.

"Yeah, we're not lying!" Junpei replied, turning to face the twins. "She's different than those other fortune-tellers. Consulting her would change your lives."

"This I gotta see for myself," Takuya decided, dragging Tomoki in with him. "C'mon little buddy, let see what's so amazing about this Oracle."

Fifteen minutes later, they both came out in the same state that Izumi and Junpei was in. Takuya could only say one word to express what they had just experienced.

"Wow."

Izumi and Junpei grinned.

"See? What did we tell you?" she said, folding her arms. "How was it?"

Tomoki tried to find his voice as he spoke. "That. Was. Amazing. Kouji, Kouichi," he looked up at the twins. "You gotta try this!"

Kouji didn't change the expression on his face as he crossed his arms. "Are you guys really serious?"

"Don't knock it until you try it, buddy," Takuya said, giving him a big stupid grin. Turning to Kouichi he said, "Kouichi, you knock some sense into him."

But Kouichi seemed uncertain. Something about this "Oracle" feels…strangely intimidating. But seeing that his friends seemed to like it, he supposed that it couldn't hurt to try. Giving his bag of fishes to Izumi to hold on to, he said, "I guess we could take a peek."

Kouji gave his brother a stunned face. "Nii-san, you can't be serious? I'm not wasting my time on fortune-telling."

"C'mon!" Takuya and Junpei chirped, rubbing their hands in way that it seems as though they're plotting something. Kouji knew what they were going to do, but it was too late. Takuya and Junpei move closer to the twins, and began to shove them into the tent.

"**QUIT IT!**" Kouji yelled.

"C'mon, Kouji," Izumi smiled. "It can't hurt to try."

"Yeah, and besides," Tomoki added in with a grin on his face. "She knows you're standing out here."

"It's rude to linger in doorways," said Izumi firmly. Turning to face Kouichi she said, "And Kouichi, make sure he doesn't chicken out."

"**I'M NOT A—**" Kouji started but he didn't get to finish his sentence.

"Have fun, you two!" Takuya and Junpei sang in tune, before giving the twins one last shove and into the tent.

The twins stumbled on their feet a bit from the shoving, but got to their feet properly to face the occupant in front of them. It was quite strange to see that there was some furniture in this tent. With soft rugs on the floor, Kouji and Kouichi took off their geta sandals politely, leaving them by the entrance. There were a few china vases with orchids and bamboo in them placed on top of four small columns. Each at one placed at a corner of the tent and were accompanied by sweet-scented candles, too, giving the inside of the tent a warm and mystic feeling of enchantment, although the air feels a bit cooler. Kouichi was surprised to see a small feng shui fountain trickling water into a bowl on the left side of tent. It was placed in the center of a small zen garden with rippling patterns of pebbles and stone. On the other side was just a small King Louis XIV table with three matching chairs to completely the set. Kouji could've sworn that the entire setting was small from the outside. While being in here, it was like being inside someone's home rather than a fortune-telling booth. The inside was a bit hazier and there was some sort of sweet smell that made him and Kouichi want to sleep.

"So you've decided to come in after all," said a voice. It was female and had a touch of maturity and enchanting in a way. "I'm not surprise, after seeing the looks on your friends' faces. It's only logical that they would recommend you, too. But even if they hadn't, the two of you would have wandered in here without noticing because it is destiny that we would meet again this evening."

In the center of it all was a woman sitting in a grand couch smoking from an antique-looking pipe. It was strange that the smoke was the source of the sweet smelling air, instead of the usual eyes-watering kind of cigarettes. The twins didn't think that it was opium, though. They realized that Izumi was right in a way. The woman was captivating. She had short blue hair with a top-knot tied up in the back with Chinese-looking hairpins dangling from one side. She was wearing a deep blue kimono decorated with patterns of small light blue daisies with a kelp green obi tied around her waist. What really captured the twins were her eyes. They were deep blue and endless like the sea. It felt as though those mystic blue eyes could see straight into their heart and souls. Just by the way she's looking at them, the Kouichi felt exposed and naked, having no protection to hide from her gaze. Kouji, on the other hand, tried his best not to show his surprised but put on an expressionless face.

The woman smiled and crossed her legs, taking in another puff of smoke. "It's been a while since we've last met, Kouji Minamoto and Kouichi Kimura."

"How do you know our names?" Kouichi asked surprisingly finding his voice.

"Takuya and the others must have told you, didn't they?" Kouji accused. His brother stared back at him in shock but he didn't pay attention. "Or at least you've heard it outside."

The Oracle didn't flinch at the indictments, but instead placed her smoking pipe down and turned her head slightly to face them. "Your friends didn't tell me your names, and if you haven't noticed, noises from outside this tent can't enter."

It was true. From the outside, the festival was noisy and buzzing with the sound of people's laughter and clattering of food and games. They can practically hear them still in those recent tents and booths that they'd been into. But in this tent, the only sound that existed is the sound of running water from the fountain and their beating hearts.

"I've known you two for a very long time," the Oracle continued. "Even before you were born."

"How can we tell if you're lying?" Kouji demanded, crossing his arms. "Our friends said that you're different than those fortune-tellers and your method is also unusual. Why don't you enlighten us?"

"Kouji!" Kouichi whispered, tugging at his brother's sleeve.

"As always, you've always disapproved of things and never really try to understand the truth behind them. Just like you did recently with Izumi's story the other night?" The Oracle raised an eyebrow questioningly while giving him one of her mysterious smile. "Or like the way you disapproved of your father's announcement a few hours ago?"

Kouji and his brother froze in shock. They hadn't told her anything. It may be possible that the others told her about his conflict with Izumi's story, but the both of them were quite certain that they hadn't told the others or anyone about their father's business announcement.

"How d-did you k-know about our-f-father's news?" Kouichi once again found his voice to speak, but stuttered a bit. "Do you…" he paused. "D-do you have some sort of insight?"

The Oracle this time turned her attention to the older sibling and smiled. She sat up straight and spoke. "There are indefinite things in this world that remain unexplained. No matter how strange it is, mankind will always observe it. I do have the divine ability only if you believe so. You are amazed, and yet, at the same time, afraid of me, aren't you, Kouichi-kun?"

Kouichi blushed since what she just said was true. The Oracle laughed a bit at his shyness. "You're still as shy and quiet as you once were before. But do not worry; you need not be afraid of me. As for this tent, there is a barrier around it. For now, you are my guests and are under my hospitality. It is my duty to protect you from the danger of the other side."

"What do you mean?" Kouji asked curiously, although his tone was once again very demanding.

The Oracle leaned back a bit before answering his question. "There's a barrier-spell placed on the structure of this tent and within a 20 kilometer radius around it. When monks practiced Buddhism and the local Shinto religion to Amaterasu, there are often disturbances from the outside of the ground from which they practiced. They find another area, which has an inside and an outside, but with no entrance as to eliminate the noise. This also means that—"

"Can't you be more specific?" Kouji interrupted her.

She stared back at him and mocked in the same irritated tone that Kouji possessed. "You're very impatient, aren't you? And besides that, you're also very rude! Aren't you going to ask me my name?"

"That's your problem for not introducing yourself earlier," said Kouji.

"Kouji!" Kouichi gently scolded his brother. Turning to face the woman, he bowed his head slightly to apologized, hiding his blushing red face at the same time.

"You're wasting our time, I'm leaving! C'mon, Nii-san!" Kouji decided, pulling at his brother's arm and dragged him out.

But just as he was about to open the curtains to leave the tent, his legs were frozen in place and soon his entire body. He couldn't move. And Kouichi was in a panic. He tried pulling on his brother, but the only thing he managed to do was stretched his yukata more, endangering it into tearing. Kouji's body was moving on its own and turned around to face the Oracle. He gave her a deathly glare as his legs slowly moved forward with Kouichi following him nervously.

"W-what did you do to me?" he demanded. "Unhand me or you'll regret it!"

The Oracle didn't seem fazed at his threat. Instead, she slowly got up and walked over to the table with the three chairs and sat down.

"I already told you," she explained. "Even if your friends hadn't advised you to come in here, you would still wander from one way or another. It is fate that we could meet. There is no coincidence in this world, only fate. Now why don't the two of you take a seat?"

Kouji and Kouichi had no choice. In the end, Kouji gave up his resistance and was able to move on his own again. Even if he had made a run for it, he didn't think that she would let him go that easily. There was definitely something strange about her.

Kouichi's nervousness grew. _How is she doing this? _He thought as he took a seat next to Kouji. _How can she stop us and know about us and our family so much? Who is she?_

"Why, I'm the Oracle and the owner of this temporary tent for the festival of course," she answered.

Kouichi's eyes widened in shock. "You can read my mind?"

Kouji gave her another threatening glare. It was bad enough that she invaded his body control, but entering his brother's mind? It was unforgivable.

"If that is what you believe, Kouichi-kun." She answered nonchalantly. Taking out a large but shallow bowl from under the table, she placed it in the center between herself and the boys. Then she took out a white and elegantly looking jug and poured shimmering water into the bowl. "Give me the thing that you have in your pocket."

Kouichi gave her a confusing look before realizing that what she meant was the little bell and tab attached to a ribbon that Kouji gave him earlier. Hastily, he took it out of his pocket and placed it in the palm of her smooth hand. The Oracle gave it a long review before placing it down on the table.

"It's a good charm with a powerful spell," she declared, putting her hand in her obi to pull out a small bag and opened it. "Very valuable and so predictable of him to leave it there for you to find it."

"Who?" the twins asked in unison.

"You'll find out later, but for now," she said, opening the small bag and poured the content it held and into the bowl of water. It was shards of crystals and they glimmer and shown even more in the water than ever. "We'll see what's in store for the two of you."

The candles suddenly dimmed as she took out a flat disk with ten strange symbols on them and placed it on the surface of the water. The disk floated and began to swirl around and around, creating streams of smoke to rise and a soft wind to blow all around them. One of the symbols on the swirling disk matches the one on the charm that Kouichi gave her. The twins held their breath as disk picked up speed and spun faster and faster. The wind began to howl even though the gust was gentle. The Oracle's blue hair flowed elegantly along with it, dancing on its end. The crystals beneath the spinning disked began to shine, projecting the walls of the tent with star-like light. Then the Oracle began to speak in the most mysterious voice in tune.

"_Ancient Spirits of Wood, Earth, Ice, Thunder, Metal, Water, Wind, Flame, Light and Darkness! Grant me your wisdom and reveal the fate of the descendants of the Old Kingdom, who are now in my presence on this night."_

The spinning disk slowly stopped, but the tent remained dark and the crystals still illuminating stars. The Oracle bent a bit closer to the water and breathed in its knowledge. Kouji could feel that his brother was as confused as he was. In truth, he was a bit intimidated by this woman. She seemed like a powerful witch with the ability to freeze his entire body and control his motive actions. And the way that she created this feeling of nervousness with her methods of telling their fortune is enough to prove that. Suddenly he felt something touched him. He didn't have to look down to know that Kouichi was holding his hand tightly. Somehow this contact helped their anxiety subsided as the Oracle looked up and stared at them with those deep blue eyes of hers.

"_Once again, your destinies are now intertwined with the ancient evil of Darkness. After decades of searching, he has found you again and his thirst for power is strong. Your lives shall now be part of a game of chess. You, Kouichi Kimura, will become the pawn of his game and you, Kouji Minamoto will become the white knight and will have to make a sacrifice to save the Queen…or the King. To defeat this Evil, the Ancient Spirits have advised that you be wise in your decision of who is the most important in your life. Learn your past mistakes, and you shall succeed. And you, Kouichi, must decide who's right and who's wrong. Make the wrong move, and you will once again repeat history. The choice is yours as it is your fate."_

The Oracle stopped and the room was back to normal. Kouichi gave off a sigh of relief of the end of the prediction. He realized that the others were right. Her methods of fortune-telling wasn't just different, it was powerful and very magical. It wasn't like anything he had felt before and it made him feel…strangely familiar with it. The Oracle smiled and put the bowl away without spilling any water. But still, he was confused with her prediction. Didn't Izumi mention that her fortune was like a fairy tale? This was beyond fairy tale.

Kouji lean back against his chair and folded his arm, a bit unsatisfied, but not unimpressed. "What do you mean when you said that I will become this White Knight and Nii-san someone's prey? And who is this evil of Darkness?"

The Oracle didn't answer right way, instead she reached over for the tray of tea and biscuits to her left and poured all three of them a cup each. Slowly sipping her tea, she answered. "I can't be specific with my predictions, Kouji-kun. The two of you must figure out the riddles on your own, but do not worry, you won't be alone."

She looked over their shoulders and they both turned around to see a white German shepherd and a small black cat. Kouichi recognized the cat right away. It was the same one that begged him for fish the other day! The two animals got closer to the twins and wagged their tales in joy. Kouji was immediately bonded to the dog right away and his brother to the cat. After their little encounter, the cat jumped top of the table and sat himself in front of Kouichi. He smiled and gently scratched the cat from behind its ears. It purred sweetly and licked his fingers. Kouichi noticed that it was still thin and offered the cat his portion of tea and biscuit, which it happily accepted. Kouji did the same as he patted the dog while it returned the favor by licking him on the face. This dog reminded him so much of Hiroki, or at least, an old forgotten friend.

The Oracle smiled. "I see that the four of you are enjoying your introduction." She turned to face Kouji and said gently. "Kouji, I know he can't replace your old friend, Hiroki, but Lobo is a wonderful friend and is willing to sacrifice himself to keep you safe. And Kouichi," she turned to the older twin and the cat. "Although I can't give you back your grandmother, Löwe is an old friend and will do anything to make you happy. I'm sure the four of you will get along quite nicely."

"I—we…can't!" Kouichi started. "We can't accept them like this! We don't have enough money with us—"

The Oracle stopped him in mid-sentence. "I'm not giving them to you, Kouichi-kun. They found you and wanted to be with you. I usually charged my customers, but I'll make an exception for the two of you tonight. But, I'll kindly accept this charm as your payment as well as theirs." She nodded toward the animals and pocketed the charm in her kimono. "And before you go, I still have something to say."

Löwe went over to her and purred as she gently strokes his head and back. She looked up at the twins and began to speak. "Kouji-kun, I already mention that you are always disapproved of things like your father's business announcement earlier today, and that you failed to see the true meaning behind it. I will tell you however, that you are a right in a way that Kousei's business engagement will change your lives."

Kouji gave her a surprising look. "Does this mean that we're moving? That Kouichi and I—"

"But not in the way you think it is," she interrupted him.

"What do you mean by that?" Kouichi asked. "If our father's business engagement works, doesn't it mean that we won't be able to see each other?"

"The two of you," she pointed out, "will have to figure that out for yourselves. All I can tell you that meeting the Clairebournes will change your feelings in your relationship. And I also advised you to be careful tonight, Kouichi. You don't know what you possessed will make you become his prey."

The twins could only give her a confused look before she got up. "Well, shall you get back to your friends waiting outside?"

Kouichi gasped. They were so busy that they didn't notice that the others were waiting outside. The two of them must have been in here for at least an hour!

"Don't worry about the time," said the Oracle. "Like I said, there is a barrier on this tent. Time doesn't flow the same in here as it does out there. For your friends, you've only been in here for ten minutes at least."

Kouichi was surprised that this woman could control time. She wasn't a normal human being. She was definitely something else. Kouji didn't seem too convinced about this but he too got up and made his way for the exit, hopefully this time, he can actually get out safely. Kouichi bowed to the Oracle, thanking her for their fortune before following his brother. They slipped their getas back on and beckon their new pets to follow.

Lobo and Löwe gave her one last look and she said spoke to them mentally by opening a mental link. This way, Lobo and Löwe didn't have to worry about their masters eavesdropping on her message. She took out the charm and looked at it one last time as she addresses to Löwe.

"_I have accepted this charm as your payment to me for guiding them here tonight. Normally, I would have charged all four of you and the rest of their friends, but I have reconsidered. I take it that you've understood my reasons for this magical barrier?"_

Löwe nodded, indicating that he understood. _"Yes, and thank you…Miss Gali."_

It has been a while since anyone has addressed the Oracle by her real name. _"Take care of them; they'll need you and each other to survive. You know where to find me when you need to."_

And with that, the both of them make way for the exit, joining their masters as they introduced them to the other four children. Unfortunately, Löwe and Lobo were suffocating under the pressure of Izumi's tight hug as she snuggled the both of them as soon as she saw them.

**Author's Note: I didn't intended for Kouji and Kouichi to meet Gali at the Festival, but I couldn't find another time to fit their encounter. As I mentioned Gali is based off from Yuuko from CLAMP's xxxholic, as you can tell from her habit of smoking and method of fortune-telling. It's all a reference to Watanuki's first meeting with Yuuko in her home. The ring tossing game around the necks of live ducks is based from a game in a Vietnamese Tet (New Year). I once saw it when visiting Vietnam during the carnival and thought that it would make a good idea for this chapter. It is difficult to win because your targets are moving! Those ducks don't want to wear a bunch of plastic rings around their necks, so yeah, they're gonna move around. Don't worry, no animals were harm during the writing of this chapter. Gali is the name of Galimon, my creation of the pure and true Legendary Warrior of Water. She's a lot more graceful than Ranamon and more mature. The name Gali is Hebrew for water spring.**

**Also notes on cultural artifacts:**

**Yukata are like kimonos but lighter and are made of cotton instead of silk and are easier to move around in. they are worn during the summer since it's hot to wear a full kimono in that heat. It's the casual version of the kimono.**

**Geta are those wooden sandals that are worn along with yukatas.**

**An obi is a sash or belt that ties a person kimono or yukata and keeps it in place.**

**Kimonos are traditional Japanese national costumes. Gali wears one in this chapter because the inside of her tent is chilly.**

**The name of the French restaurant, **_**La Vie en Rose**_**, is just a reference to international culture and is the name of a very famous song. **_**La vie en Rose **_**means Life in Pink and is also a 2007 film that won an Oscar for Best Actress.**

**Hopefully, I could get the next chapter up before Halloween or at least by then.** **And to see my drawings of Galimon and the promotional poster for this fan fiction, then go to my website at deviantart dot com. Or you can go to my fanfiction homepage and click on the link instead. It's http semi-colume slash slash galistar07water dot deviantart dot com slash**


	8. More Unlikely Encounters

**Warning: This **_**Bloody Nightmares **_**chapter contained some cursing and is therefore, rated a bit higher.**

**Disclaimers: I don't own **_**Digimon Frontier.**_

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Seven: More Unlikely Encounters**

As soon as Kouji and Kouichi emerged from the tent, they were immediately bombarded with questions from the others, followed by grinning and smirking. But it didn't last very long after Izumi and the others spotted the white dog and small black cat. At first, the others were confused, taking Lobo and Löwe for vagabonds. But as soon as Kouichi explained what happened in the tent, Izumi immediately threw her arms around the animals' necks and started to squeeze the living daylight (or nightlight) out of them.

"How cute!" Izumi cried, snuggling Löwe against her cheeks. Lobo, on the other hand, was trying to get away from her deadly embrace.

"What the hell?" Takuya exclaimed. "How come when you guys went in there, not only did you get your predictions, but new friends?"

"We told you," Kouji scowled in annoyance. "She didn't give them to us. They just happened to followed us."

"Oh don't give me that excuse, buddy."

While Takuya and Koji started to bicker again, the other three watched by the sidelines helplessly, watching Izumi as she continues to suffocated the poor white dog and black cat. Kouichi was considering jumping in to help his animal friends, but luckily, Lobo managed to pry himself from her arms. Izumi loosened her grips and started to scratch Löwe behind the ears, causing him to purr in comfort.

"So what are you going to name them?" Tomoki asked.

"They already have names," Kouichi explained as Lobo walked up to him. "The Oracle said that the Kouji's dog is named Lobo and my cat is named Löwe."

"Again with the similar names," Takuya criticized jokingly. "Kouji and Kouichi. Lobo and Löwe. What's next? James and Jason?"

"Don't push it, Takuya," Kouji warned in an irritated tone. Shrugging off the ordeal that he had just experienced, the younger twin walked away. Lobo, immediately sensed his master's absence, got up and paced after him.

The other kids gave each other confused looks. "What's up with him?" Junpei asked. The others turned to Kouichi who seemed a bit flushed by the attention. Trying to steer the gazes away, Kouichi instead, looked down, meeting only Löwe's eyes as he answered.

"I think he's still a little bit upset about what the Oracle did," he answered sheepishly.

"What do you mean?" Izumi asked, eyebrows raised in confusion. "We all thought that her methods were amazing, didn't we?"

"Yeah," Tomoki agreed. "Even you said that you find that the experience was mystical."

"Ah, forget him!" said Takuya, folding his hands and placing them at the back of his head. He, by all mean, wasn't concern about this as he went after Kouji and Lobo. "He's just being moody because his prediction probably isn't as enlightening as he thought it might be. Or maybe she just gave him something really negative."

"Takuya," Izumi criticized with a frown, placing her hands on her hip.

"What?" he asked, turning his head around a bit to face her with a bored expression. "You know he'll get over it. Now c'mon! The fireworks about to start and I want to get a good seat."

Sometimes I wonder why they would consider themselves best friends," Izumi sighed. With a flick of her hair, she followed the other boys and was followed by the rest immediately.

"Yeah, I don't think Takuya's your 'interesting adventure partner' this summer, Izumi-chan," Junpei exclaimed. Again, he was trying to find a way to steer her interest away from Takuya and hoped to share a few moments with her. "I mean, if you're really starting your adventure with someone interesting, wouldn't it be more to your liking if it was someone who shared your ideals and interests?"

Izumi ignored him. In truth, they were just good friends. It's not that she doesn't have any feelings for him, it's just that she felt that he wasn't the one. Back when they had first met each others, Junpei had been overweight and had a thing for chocolate and her. Every chance he gets, he would always tried to impressed Izumi by siding with her on everything. Sometimes, she thought that he was getting too much of himself. Izumi had been down the road of loneliness before. Back when she and her family first moved back to Japan from Italy, she was the odd one out. Her tastes in music, fashion, hobbies, and many other things weren't the same as the ones that her classmates liked. They had called her a snob not just for that, but for the way that she would sometimes say random Italian words when speaking Japanese. Izumi usually forgets that the others couldn't understand her and find it weird. The only way that she would've fit in was trying to be like them, but she wouldn't. Izumi was determined not to make friends by becoming what she was not. She doesn't want to lose herself. And that what she felt with Junpei. She knew that he wasn't exactly being himself when he's around friends. It was so clear. Because he wanted her to like him, he would side with her in her decisions, arguments, comments, thoughts, and feelings. Ever since they had all met, Izumi had been trying a bit to break that habit of his. So far, she had only managed to make Junpei cut down on his gluttony and lose some weight. Now the fifteen year old teenager was much skinnier, well-built, and a bit more handsome than he was two years ago. _If he were in Italy, _she thought, _the other girls would have liked him since he looks like an athlete._

"Don't you agree, huh, Izumi-chan?" Junpei asked.

Izumi was so deep in thought that she didn't pay attention. Sighing, the Italian-Japanese girl turned to face her friend but didn't stop walking. "Junpei," she began. "Look, you're sweet and nice and all, but really you don't have to side with we on every single thing just to impress me. I already liked you, you know. Just don't push yourself so hard."

Junpei seemed a bit embarrassed by this. He had to admit to himself that she was right. He always tried to impress her by siding with her on everything, even though some he disagreed. It seemed that at times, the more he tried to impress her, the more he irritated her. Not wanting to spoil the rest of their evening, Junpei nodded. "Yeah, sure Izumi-chan, whatever you say."

Izumi smiled warmly as they both picked up their pace to catch up with Kouji and Takuya. Tomoki gave Koichi a shrug and ran off after them.

"Meow?" Löwe asked, giving his master a confused look.

Kouichi could only offer his little friend a weak smile. It wasn't as convincing as he could try to put it. "Don't worry about it. They always do that at times. We should go, too. Don't you want to see the fireworks with Lobo?"

"Meow!" Löwe replied, his cat-eyes widen in agreement.

* * *

Every year, Kouichi and his friends always saved the best for last. So it was traditional for them to watch the fireworks bloomed across the sky before they leave. Usually, the best spot is one not to close, yet at the same time, not too far. In this case, it was their little place beneath an two old sakura tree. These two trees were different than the one that they had sat under at the food court. That tree was fairly younger, and so, a bit harder for Löwe to climbed. But these two trees were a bit special. One of them has a picnic table under it and the other provides the best shade during a nap. Since the gang had met, they had come to this very spot almost every weekend or so just to hang out. It was a little bit more secluded from the other trees.

By the time Kouichi and Löwe caught up to his brother and friends, Takuya was palming his forehead in disbelief. Apparently, there were three other people occupying their fireworks-watching spot.

"Damn it!" Takuya cried, palming his forehead again. "We sure took our time in that tent! Now our spot is taken by these guys!"

"We should've gotten here earlier," Tomoki commented.

"Yeah, and this area is getting really crowded." Junpei said. "They're all here for the fireworks."

"And this is the best spot to see them go off from behind the Ferris-wheel," Takuya added, again palming his head.

"I wouldn't be surprised if your head turns red if you keep that up," Kouji scowled.

"Shut up, Kouji!"

"You shut up!" Kouji snapped, glaring in annoyance. "We can watch the fireworks while standing, if you haven't notice. None of us are handicapped."

"Kouichi, how did you ever live with this guy!" Takuya yelled. The two boys then started to stare each other down.

Before Kouichi could speak up and calm them down, one of the three boys sitting under their special tree turned to face them.

"Kouichi? Kouichi Kimura?" he asked, getting up and walked over to them.

Apparently, he had heard Takuya calling his name, which was what had caught his attention. This boy seemed to be about the twins' age and he had some similar traits, too. Izumi smiled a bit. This boy was, by no mean, very handsome. He had the same dark bluish hair color as Kouji and Kouichi. But unlike theirs, his was shorter and a bit more in between smooth and messy. It wasn't as straight as Kouji's but less messy than Kouichi's. His eyes were a bit lighter blue than the twins' deep ones. This boy was wearing a mint-green yukata and it seemed as though it was made of finer cotton.

At first, Kouichi didn't recognize him and was as confused as his friends were, but as he got a bit closer, Kouichi realized who this boy is.

"Hey, Kouichi!" the boy greeted. "It's been a while!"

"Um, h-hi…" Kouichi stuttered. They both shook hands a bit more familiarly as Löwe jumped up and plopped himself on Kouichi's shoulders instead.

"Nii-san," Kouji began, giving his brother a confused look. "Who the heck is this guy?"

"Are you telling us that you know this punk who's sitting under our special spot?" Takuya blabbed.

"Takuya!" Izumi scolded, elbowing him in the ribs for it. But Takuya dodged and only escaped with a minor thrust to the side.

"I'm sorry," said the newcomer. "My friends and I didn't mean to take your place here. And forgive me for not introducing myself earlier."

"So who are you really?" Tomoki asked, giving Kouichi and this boy a confused look. "And how did you two know each other?"

"Guys," Kouichi began, turning to face the boy in front of him, "This is Watsuki-sensei. He's the one I've told you about. Thanks for helping us, Watsuki-sensei."

"Kouichi, I told you to please call me Kyochi!" Kyochi smiled, laughing a bit.

Kouji's eyes were suddenly wide opened in shock. "Watsuki? You're the doctor who helped cure my mother?"

Now at this point, everyone was staring in shock. Lobo and Löwe just blinked curiously. At first, everyone was too shock to say anything. It was too much of a surprise for them this evening running into someone as this.

"W-wait a minute!" Junpei said, breaking the shocking silence. "You're a doctor? But you're just a kid!"

Kyochi smiled, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. His cheeks bloomed a hint of pink as he blushed with modesty. "I'm not actually a real doctor yet. I'm still in medical school. I was just helping my mother with her patients during flu season."

"But still," Izumi commented, her eyes still in wondered. "You're in medical school at our age group? If that's not impressive, then I don't know what is."

"Thanks, but I still have a long way to go before I actually get my license," Kyochi responded. Turning to face the twins, he said, "How is your mother these days. Last time I saw her was a month ago."

"She's in Osaka with relatives for the summer," Kouji responded.

"Hearing from that, I'm guessing she's recovering from her ME?" he asked.

"ME?" Junpei's eyebrows raised curiously. "What's that?"

"It's myalgic encephalomyelitis," Kyochi explained patiently.

"My-a-what?" Takuya stumbled over the words as he tried to sound them out. "And en-she-phalo-miy what? Uh, no wonder we have acronyms for these things."

"It's nothing serious, really," Kyochi commented as he chuckled.

"So, Kyochi-sensei," Kouichi asked. Although Kyochi had asked him to call him by his first name, he still couldn't get rid of the formal suffix because of his usual polite ways. Knowing this like Izumi's parents, Kyochi decided to pardon this. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just here with my friends," Kyochi replied, indicating to the other two boys sitting down on the picnic table. "Takashi and Masaki dragged me out here, saying that I should get out more. Why don't you join us?"

"Huh?" Takuya asked.

"Join us! There are plenty of rooms for six more. And I'm sure your pets wouldn't mind," Kyochi said, indicating to the dog and cat. "And besides, you wanted to see the fireworks from here, right?"

"Um, I think we'll find some other place to watch, thanks," said Takuya, raising his hands in defense, palms facing outward. Turning to face his friends, he said, "Right, Tomoki-kun...C'mon Junpei, lets—"

"But Takuya-nii-chan!" Tomoki ranged. "It's gonna start in five minutes! We'll never find another spot like this in time!"

"You were pissed off at him and his friends earlier, Takuya," Kouji remarked as Lobo barked in agreement.

"Can it, Kouji! You and your dog!"

"Woof!" Lobo snapped back.

"Hey, Kyochi!" said one of Kyochi's friends. "Are you done socializing? 'Cause Misaki and I aren't getting any younger waiting for you, you know!"

"Are you sure your friends wouldn't mind?" Izumi asked. "We really don't want to impose on you."

"It's no problem at all," Kyochi replied. "Please do join us."

"I guess we could stay just a bit," Izumi answered with a glimmer in her bluish-green eyes. "Come on, Takuya."

"Fine," Takuya shrugged.

The seven of them went over to join the other two. One of them was younger and seemed to be around Tomoki's age. Kyochi introduced him as the one called Masaki Horibuchi. Masaki's hair was a darker brown than Tomoki. His was growing more here and there and out of place and unlike Tomoki's whose recently cut down, Masaki's was a bit longer. But his eyes weren't green like Tomoki. Instead, they're a shade of deep brown like the soils of the earth. Masaki was wearing a brown and green yukata, smiling as he saw his friend coming over, but was a bit confused by the gangs following him.

Tomoki, Junpei, and Izumi immediately took a seat on the table, while the other remain standing. The other boy, Takashi, who was leaning against one of the sakura tree, was taller and doesn't look Japanese at all. In fact, his face seemed more foreign like one of those westerners. His hair was wild and flaming red while his eyes were brown. His yukata, however, was orange and brown. As soon as Kyochi came over, he gave the others a look of annoyance.

"Who are these guys, Kyochi?" Takashi asked.

Kyochi introduced Kouichi as an acquaintance of his from work. The others introduced themselves one by one as Löwe jumped off of Kouichi's should and landed himself on the surface of the picnic table. When Izumi introduced herself, Takashi's face brightens up, his eyes sparkling. Junpei, however, just gave him a look of warning saying, _you keep your hands of f her! _But Takashi ignored the older teen's glare as he clasped her hands in his.

"Hi, I'm Takashi Atsuko, nice to meet you," he smiled.

"I'm Izumi Orimoto, and these are my friends. Nice to meet you, too," Izumi replied warmly with a smile. "You're Japanese?"

"No, not really," Takashi said, letting go of her hands. "I'm actually mixed and all; Austrian, Russian, Japanese…yeah."

"Really?" Izumi said, eyes raised. "But you're Japanese is really good!"

"So is yours," Takashi commented, noticing her foreign feature also. "So what about you?"

"She's three-fourths Italian, bub!" Junpei jumped it defensively.

"Junpei!" Izumi yelled, hands on her hips. "Honestly, you're just as bad as Takuya and Kouji. "You guys are such _idioti_ sometimes!"

As she mentioned the others' name, Takashi suddenly noticed Takuya standing next to the twins. As soon as he saw Kouji and Kouichi, his face suddenly contorted in fury.

"Twins?" he screamed, palming his forehead in frustration. The twins gave each other confused looks and so did the others. Apparently, they all had no idea why the sight of them would upset this teenager. Turning to face Kyochi, Takashi gave him a look of extreme loathing and annoyance. "As if it wasn't bad enough that the universe hates me tonight, YOU, Kyochi, had to bring these two in just to rub it in my face of what could have been tonight!"

"I didn't mean to—" Kyochi said, placing a hand on Takashi's should as he tried to calm his friend down. But Takashi knocked his hand away in defiance as he threw up a middle finger at him. Kyochi, at this point, wasn't taken aback by his friends' rude gesture.

"Don't fuckin' touch me, Kyochi!" he screamed. "You're a bastard, you know that!"

"Takashi!" Masaki cried, eyeing his friend in shock at the bad language. Passerby was hastily covering their small children's ear as they moved away from the enraged flamed-hair boy.

"You, your new friends, and the universe just love to piss me off, don't you?" Takashi spat, putting away his middle finger as he ignored Masaki's silent pleading eyes for him to stop. "This night was supposed to be special. But it didn't go the way that I planned. Just when I decided to forgive you—YOU—brought these guys over and reminded me of the downpour of my evening!" He jabbed Kyochi in the chest as he emphasized on the "YOU" part, pushing his friend back a pace.

"It's not his fault, Takashi-kun!" Masaki defended. "It's not his fault that she's not here, and you know it."

"Yeah, right," Takashi sneered in annoyance. "You know what? Screw this, I'm going home." And with that, the redhead walked away.

"You're not staying to watch?"

"Why bother?" said Takashi, not looking over his shoulder. "I've seen this show every year anyway."

"But you were the one who dragged me out here just to see this and now you're ditching us over something as insignificant as this?" Kyochi demanded.

Takashi didn't answer his question. Either he didn't hear him or he's just simply ignoring him. Kyochi sighed and as turned around to face the others. Takuya and his friends were still wide-eyes in confusion. Lobo and Löwe, however, weren't quite sure what all that commotion was about and from the looks on their new masters' faces, neither did the twins. Sighing again, Kyochi took a seat next to Masaki, eyes not looking at the twins.

"I apologized about that," he said. "Usually, Takashi's not that hot-headed and stingy on most days. He can be stubborn at times."

"What a jerk," Takuya commented. He could tell that Kyochi and Masaki were a bit ashamed that he and the others had seen that display. "What was all that about anyway? I mean, one look at Kouji and Kouichi and then he just blew it. You mind filling us in, buddy?"

"Yeah, and who did you mean when you mention this 'she', Masaki?" Izumi asked.

Before Masaki could answer, Kyochi jumped in. "It's my sister," he said calmly. "She didn't felt like joining us tonight so Takashi was upset as soon as he realized that she wasn't coming. Not that I'm surprised."

"Yeah, Takashi has a crush on her, really," Masaki laughed. "He always tried to impress her by showing off and being cool, but she wasn't impressed."

Izumi smirked and gave Junpei an I-told-you-so look. Junpei shrugged in responds.

"But seeing that he couldn't win her that way, Takashi would do his best to make her laugh or smile at least," Masaki continued. "Usually he always makes us all laughed and we all get along well."

Masaki began to scratch Löwe from behind his eyes. Löwe, out of his little cat instinct, flinched a bit, but soon relaxed and purred from enjoyment. The twins each took a seat and Lobo got up to walk over to Kouji's side and sniffed his hand. Kouji instantly scratched his head. It was an old habit of his when his old dog was still alive. He was a bit surprised that he did it to a new one whom he barely knew yet. Nodding, turning to face Kyochi, Kouji asked, "So why did he freaked out on you when he saw Kouichi and me?"

At first, Kyochi didn't answer as he twiddled his thumbs. Kouichi noticed that a small grin was blooming on his face even in this light. Kyochi laughed as he answered Kouji's question. "You two reminded him of my sister, that's why. After realizing that she wasn't coming, he got mad at me and was moody for the rest of the evening. His tantrum subsided a bit though after the Ferris-wheel, but upon seeing you guys, it reminded him too much of his ruined evening with us. I must admit that it was sort of my fault, actually. I said something to my sister and she said that she didn't feel like going."

"If she found out that Takashi cussed at him," Masaki added with a big grin, trying his hardest to contain his laughter, "she would just beat the crap out of him for it…or worse!"

Masaki burst out laughing while Kyochi chuckled a bit at the thought of Takashi getting nailed by a girl.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't quite follow," Izumi said, cutting in as she turned to face Kyochi. She wasn't about to wait for him to finish chuckling. "What did you say that your sister's name was? Because I still don't understand why Takashi would be offended on seeing Kouichi and Kouji's faces."

"Yeah, so they're twins," Takuya commented. "So what?"

"Oh, you see," Kyochi said, "My sis—"

_**FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! BOOM!**_

But before Kyochi could finish his sentence, the first fire rocket whistled loudly as it streak into the darkening sky. Reaching its limit, the fire rocket exploded into a giant blue, red, and green frenzy of light. It was soon followed by three…then…five…seven explosive displays of shapes and lights. The fireworks were starting.

_**FWEEEE! BOOM POOM!**_

_**BOOM! POOM! BOOM! BOOM! POOM BOOM!**_

All eight pairs of eyes turned around in their seats to watch the sets of colorful fire and light. Their conversation was forgotten since it doesn't actually matter anymore. The eight children watched the night performances in awed. It never failed to amazed them how beautiful the colorful sets of flowers, stars, orbs, hearts, and even smiley-faces could be, especially during the summer.

"Ooh, how pretty!" Izumi commented, clasping her hands together like a giddy little girl that she once was as they displayed a set of purple, pink, and red flowers.

"They sure are, Izumi-chan," Junpei agreed, and meant it.

"Yeah, especially the set of blue, green, and gold just now," Tomoki commented.

"That's so cool! Too bad, Takashi's missing this, huh, Kyochi?"

"Ooh, look!" Tomoki pointed out. "More smiley faces! Man, how did they do that?"

While the young teenagers were diverting their attentions towards the display, Lobo and Löwe still kept their senses sharp for anything out of the ordinary. But due to the loud fireworks above their heads, Lobo and Löwe's hearing was a bit disabled for the moment and so they couldn't send out their hearing out there with much result.

Although it was very unlikely for Dusk to strike them in a crowded place such as this, they can't be too sure. Dusk was clever so they can't let their guards down. After sensing no danger at all, Lobo and Löwe relaxed a bit but still kept their guards up. Kouji and Kouichi didn't seem to notice their furry companions' tensed alert. After the first half of the show, Löwe decided to stick closer to his master and went over to him and jumped into Kouichi's lap. Kouichi gasped at the sudden extra weight but smiled softly as he stroke Löwe's back and tail. Löwe purred sweetly, putting on his own display as an affectionate cat. _But sooner or later, _he thought to himself, _we have to tell them the truth. We have to warn them of the upcoming danger. And we can start by becoming part of this family._

* * *

The rest of the show was magnificent and breath-taking. Gali, the Oracle, was watching the twins and their furry friends from the surface of her tea. After they had left, she still continues to watch them even from afar with a little bit of magic. She had laughed a bit at the redhead's outburst earlier, but watched closely on the twins. She also took notice of the young medical student with them. Upon seeing his handsome features, she then knew exactly who this sister of his was. During the fireworks, she watched as Lobo and Löwe send off their ears into the distant, listening for danger…for _him_.

"Oh, Löwe," she sighed. "When will you learn? Years of failures had made you more paranoid than you were before. Why do you bother to strain your hearing abilities when you know that Dusk's not there? He's not in this park and you could tell. What's important is not whom you need to look out for, but for whom you need to spend time for. It isn't your presence that is keeping him afar. Take heed of my advice, and let yourselves be with each other in peace. _That _is what's keeping him from getting closed to your princes tonight."

Gali swiftly dipped a manicured nail in her tea, disturbing the smooth surface as it rippled in patterns of circles. As it once again smoothed out, the surface of her tea displayed something different.

It was a wispy, dark figure in shadows watching the festival from atop of Tokyo Tower. Although the tower is always brightly lit from many angles at night, the hazy dark figure was safe from them since they are not actually sunlight. But still, it hurts just to stand in front of them, and so the dark figure hides in the shadows of the well-lit tower. Yes, even there is still darkness in places were light luster.

Gali's smile disappeared and hardens seriously, watching the figure reflected in her tea cup. "Hiding from the light, Dusk? You are truly a coward if you think that you could escape from my gaze. I can always sense your presence. Your presence always lingers near your choice of prey. But don't underestimate me or those Knights. I have done what I could to interfere with your bloody plans tonight, and you would still have no choice but to abide the law."

As though knowing that it was being watched by her, the wispy black figure turned to face her from the surface of the tea, glaring at her with those evil red eyes. To others, it seemed as though looking into the eyes of a shadowed beast as they were glowing red with malice and venom. But Gali wasn't intimidated by its death glare.

"Although it will do you no good to try and hide your presence, I sense that there is something strange about you. What is it that more this time? What's different from the lasts?" Gali wondered, leaning back against her chair. She blew on her tea to cool it, but at the same time, changing the scene back to the twins and their new companions. "Löwe, I know you can hear me," she said, sending a message to the black cat. "Once the four of you leave the festival ground, the outer barrier will not protect them from Dusk. But once inside their home, Dusk cannot enter in this early stage. Do whatever you must to keep him in your sight. If he leaves the barrier, I cannot help any of you. Do you understand me?"

* * *

Löwe's ears perked up as he heard a mental transmission from the Oracle. He, Lobo, and their masters were heading home and were about to pass the entrance when he received her message: _"Löwe, I know you can hear me," _she said. _"Once the four of you leave the festival ground, the outer barrier will not protect them from Dusk. But once inside their home, Dusk cannot enter in this early stage. Do whatever you must to keep him in your sight. If he leaves the barrier, I cannot help any of you. Do you understand me?"_

Löwe's eyes widen and he nodded. He and Lobo would have to be on the alert once again tonight.

* * *

When she received a nod from the cat reflection, she blew her tea once more as the images disappeared. Sipping her tea, she made a mental note to ask her old friend, Kaze for another box of the said tea. Finishing her tea, Gali got up and stepped out from the tent. But when she got out, she was no longer on the festival ground, but rather, in her backyard. Amazingly, Gali had teleported her Oracle-Consulting tent from a large distance between the festival and her own district in just a matter of a blink of an eye.

Turning around to face her tent, she waved a hand gracefully as the entire thing disappeared, leaving nothing but a small mahogany table in its place. On top of the table, was a miniature house model that architects used in their structure plans. Gali took out a small orb of glowing metallic blue aura from her pocket as she hovered over the house model. The house model was that of the Minamoto's, and she, like an architect, was about to use it to create a structure plan. A structure plan to build up a barrier around the property, shielding the occupants from any unwelcome guests with a dark heart or dark intention of malice.

Gali held her hand out. Palm up while holding the little magical orb. As she muttered an incantation, the orb rose into the air and shines even brighter than ever before her eyes. The spell was in an ancient tongue since this was a very old and ancient spell to begin with. It was created thousands of years ago to protect people's home from evil on nights like this. The orb broke down into glitter, falling on the house model of the Minamoto's. The tiny glittery light of dust formed a barrier around the house, growing stronger as Gali speed up her incantation. Soon, the shining barrier stopped glowing as the spell was completed.

Stepping back, Gali looked up at the full moon. "The barrier is complete. No evil soul, spirits, or demons can enter without permission. But there is a time limit on this. It will only last as long as there are no evil intentions in present. If Dusk managed to slip through, then the spell will be broken. But still, Kouichi-kun, I will once again remind you that you would do best to stay inside, especially tonight."

Later, when the twins arrived at Kouji's front door, they passed by the family name plaque on the gate. They didn't notice that there was an invisible small sheet of paper with Kanji characters was hidden inside the plaque, it was a magical seal. The Kanji characters simply said 障壁, or shogai…"Barrier".

Once the four of them stepped into the ground, the seal shines brightly, granting access for the twins and their two new 'family members' into the ground. Once passed it and were inside the house, the seal turned invisible again. But the Kanji characters remained glowing a bit longer, knowing that an evil presence was lingering nearby and was glowing dimly in preparation for defense.

Twenty feet away, Dusk, now only a foot away from the barrier was hovering hungrily as he stared at the house. But as he moved in closer, the seal light up again, and the walls of the barrier sent a wave of electric shocks through the weak vampire. Dusk shrieked in pain as the electricity went through his body, sending him back twenty feet away.

To the other neighbors if they were looking outside would see nothing but a quick flash of electricity, indicating only a blown transformer or something of the sort nearby. No one would be able to see Dusk since his body wasn't physical and only made up of black misty vapor at this point. It was too dark for anyone to actually spot him since he is nothing more than a shadow.

Slowly, Dusk's shadow floated up and hovered farther from the house. "I should have known that those two little pricks would have asked for _her_ help," he hissed under his breath. "That damn witch! It's so obvious that she would pull a stunt like this. But don't think that I don't have my ways of getting in. I _will _have him and it will be _tonight_. You think you could keep me away from him at the festival? Compare to that, this little barrier is child's play for sneaking in. So I'm an unwanted guest, huh? Then I guessed I'll just have to get myself invited in by any means necessary."

About an hour later, someone came out of the Minamoto house and walked down the street. Dusk's eye brightens up as he saw his chance. "And it looks like a little bird has wandered too far from its nest tonight. Time for me to reap my rewards…"

And that very same night…the barrier was gone.

**Author's note: Happy Halloween everyone! Sorry this chapter was supposed to be longer but I was too anxious to get this done by Halloween. I'm sorry that it's not as spooky as you would have expected, but hand on tight, 'cause the good stuffs are still to come. This chapter isn't as great as the previous one, but it was crucial that the twins met Kyochi and his friends and that you guys need to know about the barrier.**

**To those of any of you who have known my late fanfiction of **_**Digimon Heroes**_** before it was taken off of this site, the three boys that the kids met were the other three Legendary Warriors. Takashi is Wood, Masaki is Earth, Kyochi is Metal, and his sister is Water. Yeah, this is just a reference, though.**

**Takashi is actually modeled after Davis from **_**Digimon 02**_**, with a touch of Sokka persona from **_**Avatar**_**, and my favorite comedian. Masaki is modeled after Tomoki really, but his personality is more mature. Kyochi was actually molded from Kouichi and the Ken from **_**Digimon 02**_**. No, he's not molded from Thomas Norstein from **_**Digimon Savers**_** because he's also a doctor. I actually created him three years before **_**Savers **_**and only days upon seeing Kouichi's face for the first time. But I have no proof…oh wait…I do! HA! Nah, I'm teasing you all.**

**Cultural notes:**

_**Idioti **_**is Italian for Idiots.**

_**-sensei**_** is refered to teacher, master, lawyers, and even doctors. Kouichi is addressing Kyochi as **_**sensei **_**is because Kyochi is a medical student and is almost a doctor. That and Kyochi was the one who helped the twins' mother get over her ME.**

**ME or **_**myalgic encephalomyelitis **_**is an illness caused from sadness or fatigue, usually creating more fatigue on the victim. Also known as chronic fatigue syndrome. Frankly, that is what I think is the cause of the twins' mother's illness and sadness. I don't believe that it's dangerous. You can read about it on wikipedia…or the internet's other sources.**

**Don't expect any fast updates soon because I still have a bunch of exams in college. Again, I apologized for the bad language used in this chapter. There will be others. ;P**


	9. When Dusk Strikes

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Frontier.**

**Rating: This story contains bloody contents, minor languages, and a few sensual scense.**

**Chapter Eight: When Dusk Strikes**

Lobo and Löwe were tensed. As soon as Lobo found out about Gali's message, his mind was pricked, putting all of his senses on the alert. Without the barriers, they and their masters, in this case, the young Princes' incarnation, are all vulnerable. There was a full silver moon hanging above their heads. On this night, they have to be careful since the moon also increases Dusk's strength and ability to strike. Even though he is weak in his early stage and is nothing more than a mere wispy vapor, Dusk is still as powerful and vicious like a young shark.

Kouichi and Kouji, however didn't noticed their furry friends' alertness. After the fireworks, they walked out past the gate together and bid Takuya and the others farewell and good-night. The twins exchanged talks as they left the noisy part of the city behind and into their quiet part of the neighborhood.

It wasn't until a small shadow past them that Lobo started growling and Löwe tensing up as he sank his claws into Kouichi's skin, causing the boy to wince in pain and stopped in his track.

"Ow!" Kouichi cried. He looked down at the cat in his arms and gave him a confused look. "Löwe, that hurts! What's wrong?"

Instead of answering Kouichi with his sweet meowing, Löwe hissed, his fur standing on its end. At first, Kouichi thought that it must have been something that he did or said, but he realized that his cat wasn't hissing at him at all. It was something else when Lobo followed suit and growled with murderous intention in his eyes.

The twins gave each other confused looks at first. They noticed that their furry friends' attention was drawn towards something out there. Kouji followed Lobo's gaze towards the tree behind them. Not letting his guard down, Kouji slowly and swiftly paced over towards it. Lobo was concern and alerted instantly. On cue, he followed his master, ready at any given moment to protect the boy.

While Lobo and Kouji went over to the tree and to check things out, Kouichi stood where he is beneath a street lamp with Löwe digging his claws into his flesh. Löwe only softened his grip when Kouichi winced in pain and gave him a scolding look. But at the same time, Löwe didn't lower his guard just to be sure.

It wasn't until about five minutes or so later when Kouji came back with Lobo. Kouji gave Lobo an annoyed look before turning to his brother.

"Well, did you find anything?" Kouichi asked, curiously.

"No, nothing at all, save for a dead bird if that's what you mean," Kouji answered dully.

"Then what do you think could've gotten them so worked up before?" Kouichi asked, giving Löwe his turn of a confused look.

"I don't know," Kouji answered, kicking a nearby empty can of soda at the tree. "Either it was something that's making them tensed or just their imagination."

Kouichi did not seem at all convinced but he nodded anyway. Lobo and Löwe's growling and hissing subsided after being scolded by the twins during the rest of the walk home. Although they stopped their growling, Lobo and Löwe did not lower their guards. What Koji said was wrong; Dusk is out there watching them.

* * *

By the time the twins and their new pets came home, the light was out, save for a lamp in the living room's window. The Minamoto residence is by all, a very large one at that. Because their father, Kousei Minamoto, is the head of the Minamoto Financial Group, it was no surprised that such successful businessman like himself could afford a house like this for him and his family. Because of his business, he and his family had to move from district to district of Tokyo these past few years. Because of this, Kouji had to change school a lot often, not giving him much chance to actually make any real friends. But ever since meeting Takuya and the others, it had been easier for him to actually feel happier, especially after meeting Kouichi and getting to know him. Kouji and Kouichi had feared that because of their father's business, it would be very difficult for them to see each other. Luckily, Kousei had been financing some local business and firms near Shibuya, therefore, Kouji and his family were able to stay in this particular district for four years. It was easier since he could visit his brother more often and so does his friends.

Before entering past the gate, Kouichi smiled down at Löwe. "This is where we live, and from now on, it will be your home, too."

"That is if Dad would let them stay in the house tonight, Nii-san," Kouji said, placing the key in the lock and opening the door.

"I'm going to put these fish in a—"

Before Kouichi could finish his sentence, Löwe jumped out from his grasp and landed on the doormat. To their surprise, Lobo and Löwe started to wipe their paws of dirt and mud before entering the house.

Kouichi gave his brother a surprise look and Kouji just shrugged. "At least we might not have to wash them. Satomi would be upset to find the floor dirty again."

It was obvious that their father and step-mother weren't home. Kouji decided that their pets were hungry or so, so he went into the kitchen to get them something temporary. He found a note on the kitchen table with Satomi's handwriting on it.

"What does it say?" Kouichi asked, opening a cupboard to search for a fish bowl.

"It says that they're going out and would be home late tonight. Figures," Kouji answered in a stoic manner, crumbling the note in his hand. He then went over to the fridge, took out some leftover meat and fish, and place them in front of Lobo and Löwe, both whom devoured the food hungrily and graciously. Kouichi was able to find a small glass bowl that they had used for decoration. Dumping the marbles out, he refilled it with a bit of water. Gently, he cut open the bag of fish from the festival and placed them in their new home.

The two boys were silent as they watched the animals ate. It seems a bit uncomfortable at first, but then it was Kouichi who decided to break the silence.

"Kouji?" he asked.

"Hmmm?" Kouji looked up.

"Do you think that Dad and Satomi would actually let us keep them? Lobo and Löwe, I mean?"

"Satomi is less reluctant than Dad when it comes to these things, Nii-san," Kouji answered, chuckling. "Besides, I find this a great opportunity to 'defy' him a bit more."

"What do you mean?" Kouichi asked curiously, pouring them a glass of water as they both sat down. Lobo and Löwe listen in discreetly as they continue their meal.

"Well with what he said about dinner with the Clairebourne nobleman," Kouji explained, excepting the glass of water his brother was giving him. "If Dad thinks that he can drag us in just to show off his family, I think we should _help _him out by completing our family."

"You mean those two?" Kouichi asked, looking over their shoulders at their new pets. "You're trying to get Dad to accept them as new family members?"

"Why not? What good is a 'proper' family without a dog and a cat? If Dad wants us to come with him so that he can show us off as a 'proper' family, then why can't these two be included?"

"You're a sly one, Kouji. A good plan to get Dad to let us keep them when the dinner is tomorrow," Kouichi said and they both laughed. Lobo and Löwe finished their meal and stared at their masters curiously. Apparently, they get the idea that Kouji had thought up of a plan to coax their father into letting the both of them live here. A good thing, too, since they _do _need to stay close to their masters as much as possible.

"Well, we better get out of these yukatas," Kouji said, getting up and went for the stairs. Lobo quickly followed him while Löwe stayed to watch Kouichi. Kouichi gave Löwe a scratch on the head before collecting the dishes and washing them.

Lobo climbed up and positioned himself on the countertop as he closely watches his master. Kouichi smiled at his posture. "Can't leave me out of your sight, huh?"

"Meow," Löwe replied.

"I felt as though I've known you before, Löwe. Have you and your friend been watching us before I gave you those fish for lunch?"

Again, Löwe only replied with a "Meow."

"I'll take that as a yes," Kouichi said, finishing up the dishes. He warned Löwe to leave the fishes that he got from the festival alone and went up the stairs and into the room that he shared with his brother.

Kouichi took a shower first, while Kouji waited with Lobo and Löwe. Bored, Kouji took out his guitar and played some strings as Löwe listened contently. He only got halfway through the second score when Kouichi came out, his skin warm and steaming from the hot shower. Kouji stopped and took his turn next.

In his mind, Kouji thought that it was nice to have a dog around the house again. Even though Lobo couldn't replaced Hiroki, Kouji had a feeling that he met Lobo before. At the same time, he was disturbed from what that lady said before. What that woman…that Oracle had said to them was a bit disturbing. She seems to know who they really are and about their father's announcement. She also said that meeting the Clairebournes would change their lives. Angrily, he turned the hot water to full blast, washing away any dirt or grim on his skin and his trouble thoughts. _She couldn't have meant that, _he thought. _She can't mean that we have to move again. If that happens, then I can't see Mom or Nii-san again! She couldn't have known everything! Not everything at all!_

* * *

Kousei and Satomi weren't home until a little after eleven. When they saw Lobo and Löwe, they were taken aback by their sudden appearances. It was Kouichi who told Kousei that they picked these two up at the festival. Apparently, Kouichi left the part about meeting the Oracle out since he didn't want his father to think that his sons had accepted charities. It would be better to let them think that Lobo and Löwe were vagabonds and needed a home. (In a way, they are.)

Kousei objected at first, saying that the two of them should have warned him first hand. Kouji argued that they didn't anticipated this when they were at the Obon festival. And to add to the point, Kouji didn't have his cell phone with him so how on earth could he have contacted Kousei? Kousei was about to object again when Satomi jumped in.

"It might not be that bad," she said. "After all, these two seems fond with your sons. It would be nice to have a dog around the house again, what with Hiroki's death two years ago."

"But they might have fleas or no house training whatsoever!" Kousei said.

"They seemed to be well-trained to me, Dad," Kouji said bluntly. "Who knows, maybe they were abandoned by their previous owner before becoming vagabonds. And besides, didn't you always say that we should appear as a 'proper' family? What good is one without these two to complete our little circle?"

Before Kousei could object any further, Löwe went over to Satomi's legs and gently rubbed himself against her while at the same time purring. Lobo, on the other hand, sat in front of Kousei like a good and obedient dog. Satomi smiled as she picked up Löwe and scratched him behind the ears affectionately. Löwe responded with soft purring as he twitched an ear and flicked a tail.

"Oh, Kousei, they are so affectionate," Satomi said. "Don't you agree that they'll make great company?"

Kousei pondered at her comment for a moment as he met Lobo's eyes. Bending down, Kousei cautiously patted Lobo's head. When the dog didn't growl or bite back, he stood up and sighed loudly.

"Fine," we can keep them," Kousei said. "But they better behave when we meet with the Clairebournes this week. I don't want to offend Clairebourne-dono if these two are ill-mannered."

"They won't cause any trouble, Dad," Kouichi said, smiling. "We promise that Lobo and Löwe will be on their best behavior."

"Fine, fine, fine!" Get to bed the both of you!" Kousei said and with that, dismissed them.

Running upstairs, the twins exchanged smiles discreetly as Lobo and Löwe rushed off after them.

"That went well," said Kouji sitting on his bed while still grinning. "At least we got that problem off of our backs, huh, Nii-san?"

"Yeah," Kouichi nodded. Feeling a bit guilty for his part in helping Kouji with his plan, he flopped himself face up on his bed. Löwe immediately curled himself into a fluffy ball shaped on his owner's stomach. Kouichi smiled as he rubbed Löwe by the ears. Content with the warm feeling of having these two as friends, the guilt vanished instantly from his mind.

"Do you think that they'll behave during Dad's business deal?" Kouichi wondered.

As though understanding him, both the dog and the cat nodded their head slightly in a gesture of a promise that they will do so. "I think they understand the situation, Nii-san."

And with that, the four of them drifted off to sleep. As they slept, they are unaware that they are being watched again.

* * *

Kouichi woke up with a start. His mind was groggy and his body was limp. Shaking his head a bit, he was able to think a bit clearly. The sky was still dark and the house was quiet as a grave. The only slight sounds were the soft breathing from Kouji, Lobo, and Löwe.

Kouichi wondered what had woken him at this time. It was some sort of a dream. Once again he tried to remember what it was but couldn't. All he knew was that there was something red in it. Groggily, he took a quick look at the clock. The time on it read 1:34. It was past one in the morning.

A bit tired but decided that he was a bit thirsty; Kouichi silently slipped out of the room and tip-toed downstairs and into the kitchen where he filled himself a glass of water. After he finished it, Kouichi didn't feel like he would be going back to sleep anytime soon. For all he knew, he could lay awake in his bed until sleep overtakes him in just an hour or so. No, Kouichi didn't feel like waiting for sleep to come and claim him right now. Better if he would do something that might pass the time. Suddenly, Kouichi decided that that is what he's going to do. He could take a quick midnight stroll down the street and back and by then, he would probably be tired enough to fall asleep instantly.

Picking up his jacket, Kouichi slipped on his shoes and out of the house quietly. He began his journey as he turned left towards the station.

The night was cool but not unpleasant. There were barely any clouds drifting in the sky right now. The street weren't that dark since it was lit with the street lamps and due to the fact that there is a full moon up above. Although Tokyo is one of the most crowded cities in the words, Kouichi could still make out a few stars in the sky. He was glad, since this provides a little bit of a comfort.

Perhaps a quick midnight stroll was all he needed. Usually Kouichi is a sound sleeper and he rarely wakes up in the middle of the night. Once his head hits the pillow, it was nearly impossible to get him to stay awake. But occasionally, he would be disturbed by dreams and would wake up in the middle of the night. Kouichi would need a bit of peace and fresh air to calm down his nerve such as this midnight stroll of his.

He didn't walk far from the house when he suddenly heard something. Usually this small street is quiet even during the day, but oddly enough, something was nagging him. Kouichi didn't hear it at first because it was such a faint little sound. He stopped dead in his track to listen. At first, it was nothing, but then surely but slowly, he heard it. A whispering voice. Kouichi froze. _Is there someone here? _he thought. He scanned the area quickly but there was no one. And again, that whispering voice was repeating one word. It wasn't behind him nor was it in front of him. It was around him. Suddenly, a presence emerged with it, raising the anxiety within him. A feeling of dread and fear collided in the pit of his heart. Kouichi knew that this was the same evil feeling that he had felt earlier. This was the very same evil feeling back at Izumi's restaurant. Suddenly, the whispering voice became more and more clear.

_Kouichi…Kouichi…Kouichi…_

Kouichi turned around but there was no one there. "Who are you?" he demanded.

_I am your fear…your hatred…your anger…_

"Show yourself!" Kouichi cried. "Where are you?"

There was no answer to his question as the whispering voice continued to haunt him.

_Fear…hatred…anger…_

No matter where he looked, there was no one. It was just him and only him alone on that street. But deep within his heart, Kouichi knew that he wasn't alone and that he wasn't hallucinating. He knew that that voice is real and the evil that lingers with it is there, too.

Kouichi did the one thing he could and that was to turn around and head straight for home. His journey to the house seems longer than he'd remembered. At first he walked. Then he began to pace. Then he began to run. But no matter how much he did, the evil voice still haunts him wherever he goes.

_Fear…hatred…anger…_

"Leave me alone!" he whispered, his voice small at first. But the evil voice was still there. "I said…Leave. Me. ALONE! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

He screamed and the next thing he knew, he lost his footing and fell. It hurts. Kouichi was hurting. He was hurting inside and out. The pain from the fall and the pain from hearing those torturing words in his mind. He can't stop them. No one can.

He was afraid. Kouichi is afraid and he felt so lonely right now. There's no one here to protect him. "K-Kouji…Oka-san…" Kouichi whimpered as he curled himself up into a ball, trying his best to make himself as small as possible. Hot tears slowly trickled down his cold cheeks.

_Alone…You have no one…_

The voice. It was just him and the voice. Kouichi didn't want to hear it. He did not have to take this. But Kouichi could only shut his eyes and he tried to ignore the voice. Over and over he muttered, "That's not true. That's not true…I'm not alone. Kouji, Mother, my father, my friends—"

_But they're not here to protect you from being alone. They have all but abandoned you. Nobody would pay attention to you. Not even those loyal pets of yours…_

"H-how do you know about…?" Kouichi gasped, sitting up and lifting his head. He seemed to be alone in that alley at first. But then suddenly, right before his eyes, what seemed like a black wispy mist appeared before him. Kouichi was surprised at first, but then his anxiety returned as it came closer and closer to him. Its shape suddenly shifted to and fro, forming a hand-liked tentacle as he tried to back against the wall.

_You poor thing._ It said, running its cold and misty hand against his cheeks seductively. _You're all alone in this world. Your brother and everyone you knew had left you. But I'm here…your loneliness and sadness…your fear, your hatred, your anger…it's all like honey to me…_

"Who are you?" Kouichi demanded.

_Embrace the Darkness, my boy. For only Darkness is stronger than anything. You deserve your revenge against those who have abandoned you. You have no one…only me. Embrace the Darkness, my dear boy. I will give you the power and help you quench your thirst for revenge. Embrace the Darkness…with it, you shall have your revenge…_

Kouichi didn't know what to say. His heart and his mind…it was all too much. _He's right, _he thought. _I am alone…they've all abandoned me…Grandma, Father, and Kouji…Why won't you pay any attention to me?_

_You have my attention. You always have…you will always have Darkness' attention. And its intention is to be with you and help you get stronger…will you embrace the Darkness, Kouichi Kimura?_

Kouichi could only sit there alone in the darkness, pondering over those words. It was right…the dark mist was right. Kouichi is indeed alone and no one is there for him. How he hated it. How he hated everyone for it. How he hated them for abandoning him. How he hated them for leaving him alone, never minding him any attention. He wanted them to pay. He wanted them all to pay.

As the anger and hatred in his heart grew, it gave Dusk more control. It fueled his strength a bit more. It was just what he needed. Slowly, Dusk began to wrap his dark, misty arms around the boy's neck and body. Kouichi could only sit there helpless as he gazed up into the red eyes of the dark mist. But this time, he wasn't afraid. The mist seems to hypnotize him somehow as Kouichi's eyes lost their light and kindness. Instead, they were dazed and unfocused as though his heart and soul wasn't there anymore.

Dusk's misty red eyes light up a bit as he asked, _Do you accept?_

"I…" Kouichi's voice was a little more than a whisper. "I accept."

And with that, Dusk's dark and misty form reacted. It contorted and grew bigger. Suddenly, it formed into a shape of a man and then twisted itself narrowly. With one hand, it grabbed Kouichi's throat, forcing the boy to open his mouth. Without a second to loose, Dusk forced his way into the boy's mouth, down his throat, and into his body. His power over the boy's body spread from limb to limb. Soon, he was within Kouichi's body himself and Kouichi's will was no more.

Kouichi slowly got up after the ordeal was over and plan to take over him as a container was over. He stepped out of the dark alley and into the street, leaving behind a trail of ill intention and hunger. Kouichi looked up and stared at the moon as though daring it to stop him. then, Kouichi's face twisted itself into that of a smile. It wasn't the sweet and caring smile that he once had, but the twisted smile of Dusk the Vampire.

Dusk smirked as he looked down at his new body. Admiring its lithe, strong, and youthful form, he smiled with satisfaction. It felt good to have a body again.

Again, he looked up at the moon and laughed. "Once again, you've failed to stop me, Gali, my dear. Your efforts from keeping me at bay were all in vain. You cannot stop me. Not you, or those furry servants or yours can. What you did to me was unforgivable. But don't worry, after I'm done with searching for it, I'll make sure that you'll fall."

And with that, he jumped straight up into the air and flew across town.

* * *

Miles away, Gali looked up at the moon, a glass of sake in her hand. Once a month, Gali the Oracle, would sit outside in her backyard and watch the moon while sipping sake or tea. Usually, this is her favorite time of the month since her powers are stronger at night especially when there's a full moon. But on this particular night, she knew that there is no celebration. As if hearing him, Gali knew that Dusk had managed to obtain Kouichi's body as his temporary container.

She gently place her sake down, her deep blue eyes filled with disappointment and sadness.

"I told you not to go out alone tonight, Kouichi," she said under her breath. "Now you have fallen into his hands and it won't be easy to get out."

Gali paused as she finished her sake. She turned her head and stared at the barrier that she had created just a few hours ago on the Minamoto residence, knowing very well that it will disappear. Sighing, she continued, "Tomorrow morning, news of the first victim will be all over the network. By then you'll realized that you're too late, Löwe. The only advice I can give you and Lobo now is to keep a closer watch over him. Him and his brother. The next victim just might be a bit closer."

**I apologized that this took so long, but finally, Dusk strike. No, Dusk doesn't turn into a bat when he's flying. Kouichi is only his temporary container for now until he acquired enough blood and power to get his own. Don't expect any fast update. I had a long day today.**


	10. Spilling the First Blood

**Let's get one thing straight everyone, I **_**hate **_**Twilight****. That book was the worst vampire love story that I have ever read. And to those who must know, I started this fanfic two years or so before I read that damn book. For those ****Twilight ****fans, I am sorry to disappoint you but I don't intend to copy or base any vampire stuff from that story. I don't care if you like it, but I will not adjust this vampire fanfic to satisfy your suit of taste. Dusk will possess some of the basic vampire power such as speed, sprinting, super human strength, and enhance senses…plus some of my own ideas.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Frontier**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Nine: Spilling the First Blood**

Late. She blew it. She totally blew it this time. Ami Tsujimura had stayed out way past midnight on the night of the Obon Festival. Usually she was such a neat and punctual girl. Shy and meek most of the time, Ami can be a bit rebellious when things had gone bad. And boy, did it went badly. Her mood swing swung in sometime that morning. All because of _him._

* * *

A couple of hours ago, Ami had gone to her classmate's family restaurant. Knowing Izumi Orimoto and her friends, she had expected to find _him _there. That morning when she went to the _Ristorante Italiano del Orimoto, _Ami had readied herself to ask him out, despite the butterflies in her stomach.

Ami didn't go there alone. She was with her two friends, Yumiko and Shizuku. Both of whom were also rejected by Kouji Minamoto. They had both asked him out the previous month when summer was just around the corner. Yumiko had asked him before the school festival and Shizuku had asked him during Children's Day. It was Golden Week then, and Ami's two friends had high hopes of a romantic miniature date during that time. Unfortunately, Kouji had other plans. That or he just wasn't interested.

True, Ami had sort of liked Kouji. She had liked him for two years ever since he transferred to her school. She had watched him when he was training in the Kendo Club, and was struck by his cool and stoic personality. Yumiko and Shizuku had seen how the way Ami had blushed when Izumi had introduced her to him and his brother, Kouichi. After their failed attempts into going out with Kouji, the two of them had managed to coax Ami to give it a try. They believed that Obon would be the perfect opportunity to ask him. And so the two of them had booked a table at the _Ristorante Italiano del Orimoto_ via Izumi Orimoto herself. Of course, Izumi didn't suspect Ami to be there and had no clue whatsoever of what the other two had plotted.

So there Ami sat with her two best friends on the outside of the restaurant, procrastinating as she picked at her lasagna. Yumiko had told her that she would be fine as long as she doesn't forget to breathe. Shizuku on the other hand teased her about how she won't get anywhere with her usual shyness. They had raised her hopes up with these ideas of spending it all out during Obon.

_Shizuku's right,_ Ami had thought. _If I don't try, I'll never get anywhere in life._

When Kouji and his brother appeared from the kitchen and sat themselves Ami's two friends gave her a wink. Ami waited a bit longer, trying her best to slow her heart down and ease her breathing. It wasn't until Yumiko and Shizuku had gotten so irritated and impatient that she decided to get up and get it all over with.

At first when Ami strolled over to Kouji's table, she first greeted her friend Izumi politely. Then Ami turned to face Kouji, her eyes looking down as she couldn't face him directly. She could feel her cheeks flushing red hot and was glad to her hair was long enough to hide them. At first she stumbled over her words as she also stuttered a bit. But when Ami finally got the words out and asked Kouji if he would go with her to the Obon festival, she held her breath stood there, trembling. Getting the words out was difficult as it was standing there in the first place. Kouji didn't answer her at first, which made Ami more anxious. She felt a little bit better when she saw how her classmate, Izumi smiled at her. But then Kouji answered and the red color on her cheeks disappeared.

"Sorry, Ami," he had said in stoic manner. "Sorry, but I can't. Can't you go with those other two friends of yours? I'm busy."

That was it then. Those words had shattered her world. But instead of crying, Ami said that she understood why and turn around to leave. But then she almost tripped over the legs of Kouji's chair and fell flat on her face. But luckily, Ami was able to grab onto the railing and caught her balance and strutted back outside to her table.

Yumiko and Shizuka were shocked to see her so stone-faced when she sat back down at her table. They tried to comfort her with food but she barely noticed. They tried to cheer her up by saying that they, too, were also rejected…along with about thirty other girls or so. But that didn't cheer Ami up a bit at all. Also shy and meek, every other boy had liked Ami enough to sit next to her in school or offer her his better lunch in a bento. Whenever Ami had asked a guy, he would say yes. Kouji was the first person to reject her and that just tears it. Ami had felt as though her whole world had lost its color. The colorful lights of Obon were dimmed and smeared in grey and black.

The more Ami thought about it, the angrier she gets. Her sadness turns into hatred. She hated her friends, Yumiko and Shizuku for plotting this little ordeal. She hates that Izumi Orimoto for being the only girl to befriend Kouji and his brother so easily. She hated him…she hated him so much. She hated Kouji.

In retaliation, Ami was sour through the day. When Yumiko asked her if she was okay, Ami snapped. "Okay? Am I okay? DO I LOOK OKAY TO YOU!"

"Chill, Ami-chan," Shizuku scolded. "It's not the end of the world. I mean, you're not the only girl that he rejected. So what? You're pretty, smart, nice, and great with music. Any other guy would fall for you and—"

"Oh spare me your little excuse, Shizuku," Ami spat. "It's your fault for dragging me out here in the first place! I should have known that Kouji would say no to me after what he said to the two of you."

"Our fault? Well, if you had a hunch that he was going to turn you down, then why did you come with us anyway?"

"Because you raised my hopes up, Yumiko! You always do that. I'm sick of it. Even if I had said no, you would still dragged me out here for all that matter. I—forget this, I'm out of here!"

"Wait! Aren't you coming to the Obon Festival with us?" Shizuku asked, getting up to stop Ami.

"I wouldn't go with you two even if you were the twins themselves!" said Ami, pushing her friend aside and walked away.

* * *

That night, Ami had gone to the Obon festival alone. She didn't know why she had bothered to come at all. Maybe because she couldn't stand being around the house when she knew that her brother would make fun of her for her watery eyes. Going to the festival was her only excuse to escape his taunting and keep her mind busy. At least she might have something to do while she's there.

While she was sulking around some of the booths and tents, everyone was enjoying themselves. All around her were some groups of friends or family going on and about, having the times of their lives. To rub it in a bit more was the fact that there were a few couples around, too. Everywhere she looked were girls clinging to the arms of their boyfriends. And to make it worse, Ami spotted Kouji Minamoto coming in at the main gate with his brother and their friends. Seeing him just boiled her rage. In spite, she turned around and ran the other way. Pushing her way through the throng, she ended up at other side of the festival. Ami thought about what she had seen and soon began to sulk.

It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair at all. How could Kouji just turned her down like that? Sure he had turned down a lot of girls in the past, but still he didn't mind hanging out with his friends. Izumi is the only girl in that group of his and why her? Why can't Kouji be friends with anyone else? He's so selfish. Why did Ami ever fall for a selfish guy like him?

Suddenly Ami's thoughts turn towards his brother, Kouichi. He seems nicer than his brother…it made her wonder why they were twins in the first place.

It wasn't before long that Ami realized that it was getting really dark. All around her people were leaving and tents and booths were closing. She then realized that her parents warned her to be home by midnight. It _was _midnight! Ami didn't bother running home because she knew that it would take at least half an hour to get there.

And so there she was, walking home alone from the festival. Tokyo is a very busy city, so it barely sleeps. In fact, it doesn't at all. The path home only grew quiet when Ami turned a few corners into district 4 of Shinjuku. There were fewer people here on the street than it was out in the bustling city. Soon Ami was the only one on the dark and quiet road.

_I am so grounded_, Ami thought. _I blew it. I totally blew it. Why did I get so worked up all day over a selfish jerk?_

For all the hatred that she had harbored towards Kouji all day that day, she realized that she didn't actually hate his brother for some reason. She never realized how nice he was. How could she and the other girls have overlooked him? Kouichi was practically with his brother all the time ever since they both transferred to her school. Why did Ami fall for Kouji and never paid much attention to his brother? At least his twin seems nicer and a bit more considerate. Maybe she should say hi to him the next time she saw him. But for now, Ami had to concentrate on getting home. It wasn't until too late that she realized that the street lights in her neighborhood went out in a flash and she was completely alone in the darkness…or so she had thought.

* * *

He was hungry. After feeding on the boy's weakness, it took a little out of Dusk just to possess him now. He needed a quick bite and an easy prey to feed on in order to renew his strength. After flying around for a bit, he landed on an empty street.

It wasn't easy for him to find the boy. At first he had sense him that morning when he was in the shadow. Dusk had to wait in pain until night falls in order to get closer to him. But just as Dusk almost had his hands on him, his host had entered the barrier created by that damn witch. And there was another fact that those two imbeciles, Lobo and Löwe, were with the twins afterward.

It seems as though Dusk would have to wait for the foursome to be separated. Dusk's shadows had lingered around the darkest corner of Tokyo Tower, watching the festival with his enhanced vision. It was pathetic really. He shouldn't have to hide like a weakling that he is now because of that blasted Oracle. A few hundred years ago, she had tricked him and took away his body while he was in the mist of obtaining full power. It wasn't until after he had killed those two princes that she had appeared before him. It was then that she had deceived him. By playing the part, Gali had managed to separate him from his body. He had demanded her for longevity and she gave it to him…but at what price? She had given him long life but took his physical body as compensation and hid it away.

Now Dusk is a mere wispy shadow of a spirit. Ever one hundred years, Dusk had to find his host, the prince's incarnation, and drank blood to refill his strength. But every time that he was close in finding his body and full strength, Gali and those two knights were there to stop him.

And now in the twenty-first century, Dusk knew that he can't fail. Gali had hid his real body somewhere, but there must be a key in finding it at the same time, obtain the greatest power and immortality.

But for now, Dusk most concentrate on getting his strength back. And he could smell his first victim right away.

The smell of blood was strong. There were many, but Dusk smelt a fresh and young one. This one, he could tell, was full of anger. Just the type to satisfy his hunger. Looking around the corner, he spotted a girl alone on the street.

Moving into position, Dusk sprinted faster than the eye could see; he smashed every streetlights in the area around the girl. With the help of darkness, no one can witness what he was going to do.

Just as he had expected, the girl screamed and ran. He sprinted again, this time tripping her. The girl fell and sat up to look around. He then put on a convincing face that his host normally possessed and slowly walked up to her.

"W-who's there?" said the girl in a trembling voice. "Anyone there?"

* * *

It was so sudden that the streetlights exploded and went off in a flash, startling her. Ami screamed and ran as fast as she could. But then something hit her, making her trip and she fell. It felt as though she ran straight into a brick wall. She was weary and dizzy at first, but slowly sat up. It wasn't then until Ami heard slow footsteps.

"W-who's there?" she said in a trembling voice.

Slowly the footsteps got closer and closer. With every step, Ami's heart was pounding harder and harder. It felt as though her entire chest was going to burst open. It was agony and terrifying. What if it's a beast or some demon?

"Anyone there?" she asked again.

Ami couldn't take it anymore. Her voice was weak and the air around her was chilling. Her skin was crawling and her heart was pounding like mad. Whoever or whatever was scaring her was killing her. Then…just then when she looked up at the figure in front of her she saw…

"Kouichi?" Ami gasped in surprised. "W-what are you doing out here? You scared me. Don't tell me that was you!"

Kouichi only smiled as he lean in closer and offered her his hand. "I'm here because I have a business to take of that's all."

"W-what do you mean?" Ami asked, taking his hand as he pulled her up with such strength that she didn't knew that he had.

"Care to find out?" he offered again, this time pulling her closer to him.

Ami blushed hotly as his wrapped his hand around her waist. Never did anyone do this to her, let alone someone like Kouichi. But then she noticed something different. The Kouichi that she knew was quiet and modest, not someone so…sensual. Ami tried to push him away, but he held her firm and wouldn't let her go.

"Why should I let a stray like you wander off? Don't you know that it's dangerous to be out all alone on these streets?"

Kouichi's voice was no longer there. One moment it was his voice, then the next minute, it was the voice of a man. This man's voice wasn't comforting but instead it was cold and Ami could tell that it was filled with hunger and the lust for something sinister. Her eyes widen in shock as she realized too late.

"W-who are you? You're not Kouichi-kun!" she said.

The boy holding her chuckled and smiled devilishly. With the other hand, he stroked her cheeks, causing her to gasp in fright. "Your blood smells delicious. You shall be my first victim. You should be grateful, little girl, because I am going to relieve you from your misery. Think of this as a favor."

He suddenly glided his hand down towards her neck and touched a vein. She couldn't move nor fight back. Ami was too hypnotized by his lustrous voice as he chanted softly.

"_You can't move, for now you are mine…Your blood shall be sacrificed to my need. I can smell your fear, I can taste your hatred, and I can feel the Darkness in your heart…"_

Then with one swift move, Dusk sank his teeth in her neck. Ami gasped, feeling the earth disappear beneath her feet as she collapsed in his arms. She could feel all of her energy draining away. Kouichi…no, this monster was drinking from her blood. Soon she felt sorry for herself. Ami felt sorry for snapping at her friends…she felt sorry for getting mad at Izumi…she regretted leaving her house…she regretted for not saying sorry.

Ami now realized that she could no longer had that chance to apologize to her friends as the life was draining from her eyes. It wasn't long until darkness consumed her and Dusk left her body lying there.

Dusk stood up, wiping his mouth as he gulped down the last drop of blood. That was just what he needed. Dusk cold feel a little bit more of his strength returning as the girl's blood flowed throughout his body.

He then bent over the girl's body and wiped away any trickling line of blood. Licking his bloody fingers, Dusk smiled in satisfactory then taunted at the girl's corpse before sprinting off. "Thank you for the meal."

Now that his meal was finish, he had to find a way to get his host home without raising suspicion. Dusk had an idea as he sprinted around a corner. With one of his new found strength, he was able to sprint a bit faster and faster and no mortal could see.

By tomorrow, everyone would find her body lying on the street wondering what had happened. By then, he would be miles away.

Kouichi, that was the name of his host, Dusk had to remember that though. By the time the boy woke up tomorrow, he won't remember a thing. Dusk will have to wipe out his memory of what had happened last night starting at when he possessed the boy's body. It's best that he doesn't know right now. After all, because of that damn Oracle Gali, he couldn't control the boy by day. But soon, he wouldn't have to wait long to take full control and by then, he would have enough strength to overpower Gali and take back his power and more. It was just a matter of time…but for now…home.

Dusk stopped in front of the Minamoto residence. The barrier that Gali put on was still on and he was still an unwanted guest. But Dusk suddenly recognized this old spell and found a loophole. The barrier stops any uninvited intruder with an ill intent on whomever lives there. But if Dusk was _invited _in by a member of said residence, then he could gain entrance.

Bending down, Dusk picked up a handful of small pebbles. After tossing a few of them at a specific window, Dusk released his hold on his host and hide himself in the darkest part of his wasn't long until a disoriented looking boy with the same face as his host opened to window. "Nii-san? What are you doing out there?"

* * *

Kouichi stood there in front of his house, his eyes hazy and unfocused. he stumbled a bit and tried to balance himself before being caught in the arms of someone. Looking up, he was met with the concerned blue eyes of his twin. Kouji had heard the tapping of pebbles on his windows and looked outside, only to find his brother standing out all alone on the street. He didn't waste any time rushing down the stairs and out the door any more seconds than neccesary.

"Nii-san, what are you doing out here? You're going to catch a cold!" Kouji said, holding his brother up and supporting him with his arms. "Kouichi, are you alright?"

Kouichi didn't respond, nor did he hint any indication that he or Kouji was there at all. Kouji looked on at him in concern before guiding him pass the gate and into their house. "C'mon Kouichi, don't stand there. Come in or else you'll get really sick."

"Hmm..." Kouichi responded nonchantly, letting his brother guide him into the house.

Unknown to the two of them, Dusk smiled to himself in the darkness as the barrier disappeared. His plan had worked. He was now in. _That foolish boy hadn't realized what he'd just done...perfect._

**I'm sorry, but I was in a rush to finish this chapter before Chinese New Year. Busy, busy, busy. I had to help clean and cook before the New Year. This year will be the year of the Ox. It might be a while until the next chapter.**

**Ami Tsujimura is the girl who asked Kouji out from the chapter "Girls and News, What's New?" I didn't intend for her to be Dusk first victim, but I always make these things up as I write. That's right, I don't plan this story out. I make up everything as I write. It's better that way, though. Because I can think up of better ideas that way.**

**Dusk's power isn't as strong as before because he doesn't have a physical body, which Gali took away in order to prevent him from taking control. Little by little after each and every victim that he drinks blood from, Dusk regain of whatever strength and power that he had lost. **

**What will happen next is anyone's guess. But you'll just have to wait and see. I promise that I will finish this story. But the new semester starts soon and I will be a bit busy with college. **

**Happy Chinese New Year!**


	11. News Strike

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon Frontier or any cultural references in this story.**

**Warning: Rated T for some bloody violence, a few minor languages, and minor sexual scenes **

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Ten: News Strike**

Kouichi was standing out on the street, surrounded by darkness. In the distance he could make out a few pale lights but they were too far away. All around him there was nothing but darkness. All of the houses had their lights turned off and for some strange reason, the glasses of the streetlights were shattered around his feet. It was as though someone or something had intentionally broken them to create this curtain of darkness.

Kouichi then realized that he could see quite clearly in this pitch blackness. It was as though he could see as clearly as day right now. What he doesn't understand was why. Next to him was a figure of a girl in a yukata and she was on the ground as though she had recently tripped over her feet and fell. Kouichi came closer, asking if the girl was okay. But the girl on the ground didn't seem to notice him nor indicate that she knew of his presence. Instead, she was staring at another figure in front of her, standing strong and tall.

The girl spoke and her voice sounded familiar as though he had heard it before and quite recently, too.

The black figure in front of her reached out and offered her a hand and she took it. She seemed a bit surprised by the presence of that figure. Kouichi tried to get a closer look, but all he could see were eyes as red and piercing as blood and it made his spine shivered. The figure with the crimson red eyes held the girl closed to him and ran his fingers down her cheeks to her neck seductively. Then the figure spoke in a voice so cold that Kouichi felt as though he couldn't run even if he wanted to.

"_You can't move, for now you are mine…your blood shall be sacrificed to my need. I can smell you fear, and I can taste your hatred, and I can feel the Darkness in your heart…"_

Then with one swift move, the black figure strike at her exposed neck. Kouichi could do nothing but watch. _He can't do this!_ She's going to die if he doesn't stop this creature.

"No! Let her go!" Kouichi cried, running forth as he tried to grab the black figure and pull the girl away from him. But Kouichi realized that he wasn't able to touch them. Instead, he ran right through them as though he was the ghost. Kouichi fell and heard a thump as he turned around. In horror through his eyes, the girl fell to the ground, lines of blood trickling from her neck. Her faced was pale and blank, barely showing as signs of life. The light in her eyes were gone and her breathing was small.

The black figured disappeared, leaving Kouichi alone with the girl's body. Shaking his head in disbelief, Kouichi crawled towards her and tried to touch her face. But his fingers went through her like before, but this time, the girl looked up at him as though she could actually see him now. Kouichi leaned in closer and heard her small voice. It was barely a whisper but he could make out what she was saying.

"M-min'na…s-sumimasen…I-I'm s-sorry, everyone…"

Kouichi saw and knew no more at that point on. The next thing he knew was that someone was shaking him hard, followed by a voice he knew too well.

"Kouichi! Wake up, Nii-san!" said Kouji, giving his brother another shake. Lobo was sitting next to him on the floor while Löwe positioned himself on top of Kouichi's stomach. The black cat came closer to the boy's face and nudged his whiskers and nose against his master's cheeks, trying to wake him up.

Kouichi slowly opened his eyes and stared at Löwe, raising a hand and gave him a good scratch on the head. Then he sat up and looked at his brother curiously.

Kouji was already dressed in his day clothes and his hair tied neatly in his usual ponytail style. The blinds on the windows were pulled up, letting in all the warmth and light from the sun. Birds were chirping and singing outside and the city of Shibuya gleamed in the distance. Turning back to face his brother, Kouichi could see that Kouji seemed a bit concern, even more so than the night before.

"Kouji, what's wrong? Did something happened?" Kouichi asked, swinging his legs over his bed. Unintentionally, he accidentally tossed Löwe aside. The black cat got up and shook its head as Kouichi took no noticed since Löwe didn't hissed in protest.

"What's wrong? I should be asking you that?" Kouji said firmly, arms crossed in irritation. "Didn't you know that you woke me at three in the morning? What were you doing outside in the first place?"

Kouichi winced at the accusation and shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about, Kouji. What do you mean about last night?"

"How should I know?" Kouji said. "You were throwing pebbles at our window and it seemed that you were locked outside. Nii-san, did you went out for a midnight stroll again?"

That's right. Kouichi remembered that he had woken up in the middle of the night. He became a bit restless and so decided to take a quick stroll around the block. But then the rest...what did happened? "I guessed I did. But I don't remember much of it. I don't remember how I got back and when."

"Why did you go out?" Kouji asked.

"I couldn't sleep. I woke up at around one in the morning. I remember going downstairs for a glass of water and then I decided to take a quick walk. But around the block I…"

"You what? What happened?" Kouji asked again, a bit more persistent than before. Grabbing his brother by the shoulders, he forced Kouichi to look at him in the eyes. "Kouichi, how could you have forgotten? How is it that you don't remember what happened in the two hours that you were away?"

"I'm sorry, but I really don't remember much," Kouichi replied hesitantly. "I was walking down the street. I remembered standing outside of the house and then you were next to me, dragging me in. I don't know what happened…perhaps…I'd sleepwalked."

Kouji sighed and let go of Kouichi. Then he said, "Kouichi, is there something wrong?"

Kouichi didn't answer him at first as he pondered on what to say. Then he looked up and said, "I had a bad dream last night. It's not important, really. We shouldn't worry about it."

Kouji sighed again and shook his head in disbelief. The he said, "Really, Nii-san, sometimes I don't know what's wrong. What you did and don't remember last night worries me. I'm getting the feeling that you're hiding something from me, Kouichi. Now I can't force you to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable. I know you don't want me to worry but you need to understand something. The more you hold back and keep me out, then more worry I am and I can't even help you. If I'm worry, then let me be, but don't let me worry about you more so than ever. I'll let this go for now, but if I catch you sleepwalking again, I am going to do something about it and that's final." Kouji turned around and went into the bathroom to wash his face. Before closing the door, her turned around and said, "You should get dress, Nii-san. We're going to meet with Takuya and the others in an hour."

"Meow," said Löwe in agreement.

Kouichi looked down at him and Lobo and said, "You two seemed to be worried about me, huh? I'm sorry for causing such trouble for you two and Kouji, but it was nothing, really. I don't think that we should get too worked up about this. I mean, I'm not the only one who daydream and sleepwalked, right? C'mon, let's go downstairs after Kouji and I are done."

Kouichi stood up and made both of their beds as fast and neatly as he usually do. Löwe jumped off of the bed and landed on top of Lobo's back when Kouichi shooed him off of the cover. After he made the beds neat and not a wrinkle in sight on the cover, he turned towards his bag where he placed all of his clothes in from home. Kouichi only packed half, knowing that his other half sets of clothes was already at their father's house. He took out a red shirt and a pair of white pants and put them on. He then took out all of his clothes that he had packed out of his bag and put them away in the drawers that he shared with Kouji. When he finished, Kouji was out and the bathroom, wearing a dark green, sleeveless jacket over his black T-shirt along with a pair of blue jeans. On his black shirt was a small flag of England and some words in the English language that says, "It's U.K. not O.K."

Nodding towards Lobo, Kouji beckoned him over and the two of them were out the door and down the stairs. Kouichi finished up brushing his teeth and washing his face before he joined his brother downstairs. Along the way, Löwe trotted behind his heels and met up with Lobo in the living room. Kouichi continued forth into the kitchen and as soon as he was out of earshot, Lobo and Löwe bent over to talk.

"Lobo, do you think that Dusk got to him?" Löwe asked as they both hid themselves behind the couch. "The prince said that he went out for a walk last night. Why didn't you follow him?"

"We can't be sure if Dusk had strike yet, my friend," Lobo responded, "It could be nothing, but we should check for signs."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Löwe asked, his tone a bit harsher than he had intended. "We can't just pounce on him just to see if he has the mark. And besides, I had a bad feeling about what happened last night. The boy claimed that he went out for a stroll and then he doesn't remember how he got back and claimed that he sleepwalked. He's been missing for two hours between those times."

"But how could have Dusk gotten to the boy? Surely the barrier on the house would keep him out?" Lobo questioned. "And even if he managed to possess Kouichi, Dusk's soul still would be banished as soon as the boy walked past the barrier."

"I believed that Dusk had managed to find a loophole to get past Gali's barrier. And if that is true, then I'm afraid that we are too late in stopping him," Löwe said sadly, shaking his head.

Lobo grunted in frustration and growled. "No, it's not too late and you know that, Löwe. We don't even know if Dusk actually attacked last night. First we have to find that mark of his on Kouichi. If Dusk was able to possess him, then we do what's right to stop him."

Löwe nodded before he answered, "Very well, I'll find a way to check for the mark on Kouichi. That will be the first step. But for now, let's join them."

Lobo and Löwe nodded before they headed for the kitchen where the twins were sitting at the table eating. Kouichi greeted them as he laid out some breakfast for the two of them. Löwe noticed that the parents aren't home. Satomi had left a note on the table next to Kouichi's fish bowl. She wrote that their father is at work making arrangements for tomorrow and that she's at friend's house and wouldn't be back until noon.

After feeding his fishes with some fish flakes that he found, Kouichi took his seat and excepted the butter-spread toast from his brother. With that, Kouji grabbed another toast and spread butter on it. "You really overslept it this time, Kouichi. It's already nine and we were supposed to meet with Takuya and the others in a few minutes."

"I'm sure they won't mind that much," Kouichi replied, pausing from his toast and took a sip of his orange juice. "I'm a little bit worried about tomorrow, Kouji. What if sometime happens while we're at the estate?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what if Lobo and Löwe aren't as well-trained as we thought they might be? If they do something rash, Dad could lose the biggest deal ever for him. It could be worse even for us, Kouji."

Kouji stopped eating and so did Lobo and Löwe, both whom gave the older sibling what seemed like looks of confusion. Kouichi lowered his head as he tried to brush the gazes. Then Kouji grabbed an apple from a fruit bowl and eyed Lobo who got up and wagged his tail.

"Well, only one way to find out, Nii-san," Kouji smirked, and then he tossed the apple into the living room. "Fetch!"

Lobo immediately turned around and ran swiftly into the living room and went after the apple. Kouji was careful to throw the apple at the sofa so that it doesn't break anything else in the living room. Lobo fetched the red fruit easily in his mouth after he found it sitting comfortably on a sofa cushion. Just as he had ran in there, Lobo swiftly ran back into the kitchen without knocking over a lamp or two. He joined Löwe who sat patiently by his food bowl and began to crush the apple with his teeth and devoured it bit by bit. After he finished, he stood up and awaited his next command.

Kouji smirked and he raised a hand in a commanding gesture. "Sit."

Lobo sat while Löwe remained sitting.

"Up."

They both got up and then did whatever Kouji told them to do. Lie down, roll over, and any other things that he once told his old dog to do. Lobo and Löwe followed each of his command patiently and without any objection. In the past, they were used to the princes' simple command and orders. Over and over, they have followed their masters' will without much question. It made no difference this time, marked by how many, they had lost count.

When Kouji finished, he turned to his brother and said, "I don't think you have to worry about them anymore, Nii-san. They seemed pretty well-trained by my standards. I guess it's no surprised after all, since they found us at that place."

Kouichi sighed as they both finished their breakfast. "You mean, the Oracle's tent? I guess. I can't believe that we've met her and what she told us. It almost felt as though it was a dream."

"I don't trust her," Kouji said. "There's something about her that I don't like at all. She knows too much."

"But she doesn't seem too threatening," Kouichi said. "I admit she read my mind, but I don't think she meant us any harm. Didn't she say something about a barrier while we were in her tent?"

"Don't let her nature fool you, Nii-san," Kouji warned. "Something tells me that there's more to her than meets the eyes. We shouldn't let our guards down when meeting people like her. It could've been a trap."

"You're always like this, Kouji," Kouichi laughed. "Disapproving people and things, but you didn't disapprove of them last night."

They both turned to Lobo and Löwe who both looked at their masters curiously. Kouji laughed, then said, "No, but I wonder if they're really what they seemed."

This comment perked up the knights' furry ears. At first, they thought that they were on the verge of being discovered, but then Kouji waved a hand and brushed the topic aside. They both sighed in relief secretly. For a moment there, Kouji was too close to the truth...a lot closer than he thought.

"C'mon, we better get going. Takuya and the others are probably there already," Kouji said as he and Kouichi both got up and cleared the table.

After washing the dishes, and closing all of the doors and windows, the four of them were ready as they locked the house with a spare key and headed for the park.

Kouji and Kouichi had arrived at their usual meeting place under the sakura trees from the night before about half an hour later. All around them were some scraps and few things left from the Obon festival the night before. Some were being picked up and thrown away by the clean-up crew as others packed away the last of the tents onto their trucks and drove away.

Not surprised to them, the twins had arrived late and last. When Kouichi and Kouji arrived, they found their friends already sitting at the bench table under the sakura trees. Izumi sat at one side of the table with Takuya while Tomoki and Junpei sat at the other. As Kouichi and Kouji approached their friends, they saw that Junpei was showing Tomoki his latest card tricks since he was shuffling them back and forth in his palms. Izumi was stringing colorful beads into bands of bracelets. Most of those beads were tiny orbs of mint green, light pink and purple and they gleamed brightly under the reflected sunlight. Takuya, on the other hand, was kicking his soccer ball up and down on the farther side of the table. When he saw his friends approaching, Takuya stopped balancing the ball on his head as he allowed it to drop onto the ground.

"What took you two so long?" he asked.

"None of your business, Takuya," Kouji replied.

Takuya then turned to Kouichi and asked jokingly, "Did he get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?"

"Um, it's actually my fault, really. I overslept a bit," Kouichi replied, taking a seat next to Izumi. Löwe followed suite and climbed up and sat himself on the table as before. Izumi giggled as she scratched him affectionately behind the ears, causing the black cat to purr.

"I don't blame you, Kouichi-kun," Izumi commented as she then stroke Löwe from head to tail. "We were out a bit late last night and you weren't the only one. I couldn't sleep until one in the morning."

"Yeah, we all overslept a bit ourselves," Junpei added as he pulled out the final card from his sleeves and showed it to Tomoki. The boy nodded, indicating that it was indeed his card; the five of spades. Junpei then stacked his cards in a pile neatly and putted them away in his back pocket.

Tomoki turned to face the others as Takuya and Kouji dismissed the tardiness news and sat down with Takuya at one side with Izumi and Kouichi, and Kouji with Junpei and Tomoki facing his brother. Lobo quietly paced himself behind and climbed up on an empty seat next to Kouji. With all of them presented and accounted for, Tomoki asked, "So we're going camping in a few weeks. You guys are coming, right?"

"Yeah, we did talked about this a few weeks ago, and our parents agreed," Izumi replied.

"It's not actually camping, you know," Takuya commented. "We're just going to stay in a cabin in the mountains, that's all."

"And whose parents booked it for us, Mr. Obvious?" Izumi said, flicking a broken piece of bead at Takuya's head. He blinked in response at the contact between his forehead and the said bead and gave her an annoyed look.

"I think it's great that you're able to book us one this summer, Izumi-chan," Junpei complimented. "Just think; we can totally spend the entire trip with no parents to boss us around."

"Not exactly, Junpei," Izumi holding up a finger as she stopped him. "My parents said that they'll only let us go if we get at least a chaperone since they're not coming."

"Well who's coming with us?" Kouji asked.

"My brother, Yutaka," Tomoki answered. "He said that he's free during that time and can drive us there."

"Doesn't he have classes at the university?" Izumi raised an eyebrow.

"Nah, he said that he only has three summer classes and he's free by then," Tomoki replied.

"But doesn't he have to graduate soon?"

"Almost, but not yet," Tomoki replied.

"Well, I guess Yutaka is better than anybody since we know he's not gonna nag us all of the time," Junpei said flatly.

"So it's settled then?" Izumi asked, raising her hand. "We're all set and ready to go in a few weeks, right? All in favor say 'Aye'!"

The rest of the boys raised their hands in agreement as they cheered, "Aye, aye!"

The sudden gentle wind passed by and rustled up the leaves in the trees above them. A few cherry blossom petals were snipped by the wind and began to fall gently among them. Löwe curiously observed them as did Lobo in his seat next to his master. One petal fell gracefully and slowing and as Löwe watched it intensively, it landed on his nose and he scratched it off hastily with one of his paws. Izumi giggled and patted him affectionately. She then finished tying a knot at one end of her beaded jewelry then coaxed Löwe to sit still. Before he knew it, she coiled it around and around one of his front paws.

Clasping her hands together, Izumi said, "Aren't you cute? And it totally suit you!"

Lobo made a dog-liked noise which was assumed as laughter. Irritated, Löwe gnawed at the beaded jewel on his wrists, desperate to get it off. It took him a while since he got tangled once throughout the process, but in the end he succeeded. "Oh you are so ungrateful, you naughty little cat," Izumi scoffed, picking up the beads and the broken string.

"Don't go decorating other people's pets, Izumi. You're annoying the cat and the owner," Kouji said.

"He's not your pet, Kouji," she commented, turning to Kouichi. "And Kouichi doesn't mind, don't you?"

"No, not really."

"Hey, I almost forgot!" Junpei exclaimed suddenly. "There's gonna be a special event tomorrow at the bookstore in the mall!"

"Oh yeah! They're finally releasing that final volume of _Spiritual-HoLic _series!" Takuya said. "Man, how long had that series been out?"

"Four years, and this time the author will release her final book," Tomoki exclaimed. "Because she lives around here, they're holding a special event at the bookstore tomorrow. It's in the flyers, the news…everywhere!"

"So there's the usual raffle, and contests relating to the novelist and her book," Kouji said.

"Yeah, it's gonna be huge!" said Junpei excitedly. Then, as though he's been hiding something and saving it for last, Junpei breathed in and said, "And that's not the best part."

"It's not?"

"Nope! I heard that the novelist is gonna be there in person herself tomorrow and she'll be giving a presentation and signing the copies that we buy afterwards."

No one, not even Lobo and Löwe, were prepared for what came next. After Junpei finished, Izumi shrieked like a banshee with both hints of happiness and disbelief. Her loud shrieking caused the boys to cringe in pain for their poor ears. Apparently, Izumi is as much of a big _Spiritual-HoLic _fan as the next person. With the news of the novelist being there at their local mall, it was like a dream come true to her.

"Are you sure? This isn't a lie to impress me, is it?" Izumi demanded. She leaned over the table and grabbed Junpei by his collar with both of her hands. Her fists clenched and her knuckles white and pale from the force. Her aqua green eyes seemed as though they were bloodshot with high intensity. If Junpei was indeed lying just to impress her, she showed signs of high intensity that she would lash out at though who dared to deceived her. It frightened him so to the point that he was trembling below her readied-fury. "Well? Is it true? IS IT?"

"N-n-no! It's not a lie. I swear, Izumi-chan," Junpei replied as he stuttered. "I heard it on the news that my mom listens to. She likes the series, too. It's a definite confirmation."

Junpei was relieved when Izumi released him from her grip. Suddenly, like a mood swing, Izumi clasped her hands together in excitement as she switched from menacing gripping and staring to excitement and joy. "Really? I LOVE _Spiritual-HoLic_! I can't believe that the author's going to be there. This is so exciting!"

"Maybe this is what the Oracle was talking about," Tomoki commented.

Everyone turned to the youngest member in confusion with raised eyebrows. Perplexed, Izumi asked, "What do you mean, Tomoki-kun?"

"Remember when we went into that tent last night and had our fortunes told?" Tomoki explained patiently.

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember what you told us after you came out? You said that your fortune was about you going on an adventure with someone interesting."

"So you think tomorrow's my special day?" said Izumi.

It was then that Junpei cut in and said, "Maybe it is! Maybe tomorrow will be the day of your destiny."

"Oh c'mon," Kouji scoffed in annoyance. "You guys are in way too much over your heads about that fortune-teller."

"Well, excuse me, but it's not like you didn't have your fortune told yourself!" Takuya remarked sarcastically.

"You guys were the ones who pushed us in there," Kouji pointed out.

"Lighten up, Kouji," Takuya said, "It was all fun and games. C'mon, admit it. You didn't think that the Oracle was a fake either."

Kouji didn't answer. True, what he had experienced last night wasn't what he had in mind nor did he expect it. Kouji didn't want to admit that he thought that she was a fake. From what had happened to him in that tent, he knew that it was no trick or illusion. His body was acting on its own and wouldn't let him leave the tent until his and his brother's fortunes were told. That woman was able to even read their minds, thoughts, and feelings all through one visit. What she had said was disturbing, too, and Kouji didn't like it.

Before Takuya could press him for more on the subject, Tomoki decided to cut in. "You know what, guys, I just realized something."

The others turned to him and Tomoki decided to continue. "I realized that we don't even know her name."

"Who?"

"The Oracle, Takuya!" Izumi reminded him with a hint of annoyance. "Weren't you paying any attention? I swear, you're most dense than a log sometimes. But you're right, Tomoki-kun. That Oracle was amazing last night, but now that you've mentioned it, we don't even know her name."

"It's Gali," said a quiet voice before the others could answer.

Izumi, Takuya, and the others turned to face none other than Kouichi. They all stared at him curiously, wonders in their eyes as to how could he had known that. Kouji, too, was also surprised. He gave his brother a look of confusion and curiosity. If he had remembered correctly, the Oracle never did tell them her name, although she did asked them if they would like to know. Also, Takuya and the others never did mention her real name at all either. If they did, they wouldn't be sitting here wondering about it. Raising an eyebrow, Kouji asked, "How did you know her name, Nii-san?"

The others nodded in agreement as they, too, would like to know. It wasn't just them that Kouichi's knowledge of the Oracle's name had perked up, but it had also attracted the attentions of Lobo and Löwe. Kouichi's face was red when he realized that everyone's attention was on him. He avoided their gazes and decided to look down at his fingers instead.

"Is that really her name, Kouichi-kun?" Izumi asked again. "I don't remember her telling any of us. Did you tell you?"

"I…I really don't know," Kouichi replied truthfully. "I didn't really know her name at all."

"Are you sure that she didn't tell you?" Junpei pressed.

"Yeah, maybe she did tell you guys and it just happened to slipped into the back of your mind," Takuya suggested. "You know maybe it's one of those long terms or short term memories from physiology?"

"That's psychology, Takuya, not physiology," Izumi corrected him.

Takuya gave her an annoyed look before saying, "What's the difference."

Izumi gave him a look and it seems as though she was about to slap him in the face again. But before she and Takuya could go into one of their usual sasses again, Kouji snapped back. "No, she didn't tell us her name at all last night, right Kouichi?"

"Um…yeah," Kouichi replied hesitantly. "But she asked us if we want to know her name. But she didn't, really. I guess she forgot since the subject was drifted."

"But then how did you know her name?"

Kouichi raised his hands up in defense before his brother and friends could accused him of anything further. "I really don't know how. For some reason, it just came to me," he replied hastily, putting his hands down. Löwe a bit concern, came over to him and purred. Unconsciously, Kouichi raised his right hand and scratched him again behind the ears and under the chin. "It felt as though I always knew it…"

"Gali…that's what you said, right?" Tomoki asked the older twin. Kouichi nodded.

"Pretty name, I like it," said Izumi. She then, remembered what was it that they were talking about before as she clapped her hands together in realization. "Hey that's right. The speech and book signing event is tomorrow! You guys are coming, aren't you?"

"You bet!" replied Junpei and Takuya in unison.

"Yeah, and besides, they're also releasing that new game tomorrow at the mall, too," Tomoki mentioned with eagerness in his eyes. "I can't wait to play it! Everyone in school has been talking about it for a month now."

"Then it's decided then! All in favor, say 'Aye!'" Izumi commanded cheerfully. Takuya, Junpei, and Tomoki raised their hands following her as they replied with an "Aye, aye!"

But then Kouji spoke up coolly. "Sorry, but we can't."

The smiles on his friends' faces disappeared. They all gave him a look of disbelief. "What? Why?"

"Because we're busy tomorrow, that's why."

"But you don't know what you're missing, Kouji!" Tomoki exclaimed.

"Gee, Kouji! Way to be a party-pooper when we're about to do something fun," Takuya commented. Kouji gave him a look of annoyance but Takuya didn't seem to mind.

"Our father's attending a business dinner party tomorrow and asked us to be there," Kouichi said, offering to explain their situation. "He said that it's important for him and that it could also promote his company. And he wants us to be there to meet his business partner."

Takuya glanced at Kouichi, intrigued. "How big is it? Big enough that you have to miss out tomorrow's event?"

"Yeah, I mean your dad helped financed a lot of small companies. Who is it this time that he wants to finance for?" Izumi asked.

"It's the Clairebourne nobleman," Kouichi answered. What happened next wasn't something that he'd expected as his friends' jaws dropped and hung from there in surprised. Their eyes were just as wide as their O-shaped mouths.

Reclaiming her posture, Izumi said, "The Clairebournes? You mean the noble family from Europe that moved here two years ago?" Kouichi nodded. "Oh wow, that is huge! You guys are so lucky! I wish I could dine in a manor."

"Didn't I give you those tickets yesterday?" Takuya asked her as a reminder.

"But that's different!" she said. "They get to meet actual noblemen! Not all of us have that sort of luxury."

"Yeah, well not all of us has the sort of luxury whose family owns an authentic Italian restaurant," Takuya jeered.

"This isn't all fun and games, Takuya. Our dad's involving us in his business so that his company can get credits," Kouji frowned.

"Right, I forgot that you don't like being told what to do," Takuya commented sarcastically." Kouji gave him a frown of annoyance but Takuya only shrugged.

"Aren't those Clairebournes royal or something?" Tomoki asked.

"Sort of," Junpei replied. Although not the one who excel in school of the group, Junpei had learned recently about them from his textbooks. "It said that the previous head of the family was a son of the duke. They're not exactly part of the main branch, but they are still important and known from all over the world. Now that the head of that family is dead, his son, James, is now Lord Clairebourne. But he married a Japanese woman and they had two kids. After his father died, the son moved here to Japan two years ago. Then his son, Alan, and heir died and now, his only remaining heir is his daughter."

"Wow, Junpei, seems like you were paying attention in class for once," Izumi giggled. "Speaking of which, I heard that no one has ever seen his daughter before. What's her name?"

"I don't remember," Junpei replied with embarrassment. "I don't think that the book or the news ever mentioned her name. It's clearly that her dad doesn't want her to be seen since his son's death."

"I wonder what she looks like," Izumi pondered as she gazed up at the sakura blossoming in the tree. Turning her attention to Kouichi, she said, "Hey, if you ever see her, will you tell me what she looks like and find out her name?"

"I liked to know that, too. Not everyone is as lucky as you two. You might actually get to find out more about this whole royal wish-wash mystery," said Takuya.

"I'll keep that in mind," Kouichi replied, half-heartily. Lobo, a bit bored, rested his head on the table. Löwe had long ago curled up in front of his wet doggy nose. At first, he appeared to be sound asleep, but a closer look revealed his attention from occasional twitch of the ears.

"I can't believe it! A real princess!" Izumi said, happily grasping her beaded bracelet. The others smiled and laughed. Takuya turned over his soccer ball and kicked it up on his head, balancing it like a professional and said to the twins, "So since you guys are busy tomorrow with that business dinner party of yours, we'll make sure to get you some souvenirs tomorrow. We'll make sure to save you something special. Then you can tell us all about your evening at the Clairebourne Manor."

"Don't take advantage of us!" Kouji remarked.

"Kidding!" Takuya said hastily before Kouji could punch him in the elbow. "I was just kidding!"

It was then that Lobo heard footsteps approach. Lifting his head up, he sniffed the air. Löwe uncurled himself and sat up. Following Lobo's action, Löwe sent out his senses, trying to detect any hostilities in the perimeter. From what they're sensing, there seems to be two of them. And surprisingly, their scent is familiar, too. It was also Lobo and Löwe had gotten close enough to them and recognized their scents somewhere…but where? Noticing their vigor, Tomoki and Junpei looked up and heard familiar voices. Soon, two boys were approaching them while at the same time, talking to each other. One was a red head and taller than the other who has brown hair.

* * *

"So he's not coming tomorrow? But he still has a day off! Doesn't he realize what he's missing?" said the redhead.

"But you know how they are, Takashi-kun. Kyochi called and said that his family is busy and he had to be there," the younger boy replied.

"Damn that rich bastard," Takashi remarked coldly, kicking a soda can as they continued walking. "You know what, Masaki-kun? I think that's just another one of his excuse to keep her away from me."

"Oh you are such a hopeless case, Takashi-kun," Masaki said. "You know it's not Kyochi's fault that she didn't want to go last night."

"But if Kyochi hadn't intervened, she wouldn't have gotten hurt!"

"That was just an accident, Takashi," Masaki reminded him. "And besides, the cut wasn't deep at all. She's fine and her brother was there to treat her."

"Yeah, I guessed you're right, but still! Last night was supposed to be her first night out with us, and I wanted it to be special," Takashi lowered his head and sighed in disappointment.

Masaki laughed and slapped his friend on the back. "Don't worry. You'll get a chance to show her around sooner or later. It's hard to believe that she and Kyochi are blood-related. They are so opposite from each other and—"

Takashi stopped so abruptly, Masaki kept walking a few more paces before he caught himself and looked back at his friend. Takashi seemed stunned, as if he had seen a ghost. Masaki looked at where his friend was looking and realized that their tables under the cherry blossoms were already occupied by Takuya and his friends. Seeing Tomoki there, he smiled and walked up to them. Takashi followed, sulking.

"Hey, guys," Masaki greeted. "I didn't think you would be here."

"Hey yourself, how've you been doing?" Takuya asked.

"Fine, fine, really," Masaki replied.

Izumi smiled and raised a hand to tap the empty table next to her. "Why don't you take a seat and join us?"

Seeing Izumi's friendly gesture, Takashi seemed to brighten up and took her offer. Masaki thanked them and took a seat next to Tomoki. It seems as though they're getting along very well, considering them that they're both the youngest out of eight of them.

"So how you been?" Takashi asked sweetly.

"Fine," Izumi giggled. Junpei, however, was boiling with envy deep down as he glared at the redheaded boy. Decided to change the subject and avoid the oncoming spat between them, Izumi asked, "So who were you talking about?"

"Huh?"

"That girl that you two were talking about?" she said.

"Oh, um…well…" Takashi stumbled, rubbing the back of his head with his hand in embarrassment. Clearly he didn't want to talk about this in front of her, seeing how red his cheeks were. But Masaki decided to cut in.

"It's Kyochi's sister," he explained.

"The one who couldn't make it to the festival last night?" Kouichi asked.

"Yeah, her name's Kimi. She just moved here a few years ago and had some cultural shock when she found out that Kyochi's her blooded brother. It was such a huge shock for them to find out that they were twins."

At the mention of this, everyone turned to Kouji and Kouichi again as though, yet again, it was another cosmic joke. Then Takuya said, "No wonder you went crazy last night."

"Oh shut up, you goggle-head!" Takashi snapped.

"So you're saying that they were also separated and found each other?" Kouichi asked curiously. He looked at his own brother. "But that's like us."

"Really? But these two have been separated by sea. She's been living abroad with her foster family while Kyochi had been here the entire time."

"So what was it about that you were talking just now?" Tomoki asked.

"Kimi had been so unhappy lately so we've decided to show her what Japanese Obon festivals are like so we planned to get her out of the house," Masaki continued with his story. But then he looked down at his folded hands sadly. "But she got hurt a bit and that was enough to make her change her mind."

"What happened?" Izumi asked.

"She got distracted by her brother and her sparring partner slashed at her hand during fencing."

"It was Kyochi's fault, that's what it was," Takashi sulked, "If he hadn't intervene, she wouldn't have gotten hurt and would had come to the festival last night."

Izumi realized something when Takashi said this. Resting her chin on her palm, she gave him a knowing look. "Oh, do you like her?" Takashi winced at her question since he didn't expected her to asked him that. His reaction was just what she needed to get her question answered. She giggled and said, "That's so sweet. After hearing a bit about her from you, it makes me wonder why you liked her so much."

Junpei continued to glare at Takashi and Takuya laughed.

"Oh God," Takuya said as he continued to dribbled his soccer ball. "You have a crush on Kyochi's sister and you're hitting on Izumi?"

"Shut up!"

"You really are weird, you know that?" Takuya continued.

"I SAID SHUT THE HELL UP!" Takashi spat.

"Stop making fun of him, Takuya," Izumi scolded him. Then she turned to Junpei. "And stop glaring, Junpei. It's rude."

"So have you guys heard of the events tomorrow at the mall?" Tomoki asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to try and get a copy signed for my sister," Masaki replied. "She likes that series a lot and asked me to get her one. But really, I don't see what the big deal is. I'm just going there for the games."

"How can you not like _Spiritual-HoLic_?" Izumi demanded. Her tone was shocked but it was no surprise, considering that she's a big fan herself and didn't like to hear criticisms.

"I just don't believe in magic or supernatural or even spiritual events, okay?" Masaki said, raising his hands in defense.

"And what do you think?" Kouji asked, glancing at Takashi.

"It's okay, I guess. But it is a bit creepy," Takashi replied honestly. "The only good thing about it right now is that at least it takes my mind off of that bloody incident this morning."

"What incident?" Kouichi asked.

Takashi's eyes raised in surprised. "You mean you guys haven't heard?"

"No, what was it?"

"I woke this morning to find that my neighborhood was crawling with cops and bystanders. Apparently there was some sort of strange murder last night," Takashi answered solemnly, shaking his head. Apparently, this news sparks up Lobo and Löwe's attention and they both had a horrible feeling that it's not good at all as Takashi continued. "I was shocked. It happened like last night after everyone came home. What's strange was that the victim was found blood-drained. There were no gunshot or knife wounds or anything. It was all so strange. The only clues were the broken light bulbs from the street lights lying around the streets. It was as though someone was trying to put them out in order to hide the murder in darkness. It's all over the news this morning. My sisters are scared and now the younger ones don't want to leave the house."

What Takashi was saying sent chills down everyone's bones. It was something impossible. A victim drained of blood and had no exterior wound impacted on skin, and the perpetrator disappeared without a trace, leaving only a trail of shattered glasses.

Lobo and Löwe sensed that this wasn't coincidence. This was probably _his _doing. It was his style. What they must do, they must do it fast.

Hesitantly, Izumi said, "How scary. Who was the victim? Do you know the person?"

Takashi nodded his head sadly and sighed. "The police officers told me that she's barely alive and she's in the hospital right now. I doubted that she'll make it."

"C'mon, tell us!" Kouji and Takuya demanded. "Who was it?"

"It was Ami Tsujimura from classroom 9B of Teitan High."

It was then, that all was quiet before the storm. Izumi was the first as she broke down and cried.

**Author's Note: I apologized for taking so long to update this chapter. I had hit a few writer's blocks on the way and had to rewrite a few scenes. Originally, this chapter was supposed to be longer, but it was too long for my taste, and so I had cut it into two. I suck at writing so this chapter isn't very good, sorry.**

**Cultural references: **

_**Spiritual-HoLic **_**is a spoof from CLAMP's xxxHoLic manga series about a teenager named Watanuki who had to work, cook, and clean for Yuuko in order to get his wish granted. Gali as the Oracle is based off from Yuuko.**

**Teitan High School: It's a high school that Jimmy (Shinichi) Kudo attended from Gosho Aoyama's **_**Case Closed**_** (**_**Detective Conan**_**) manga series. Jimmy is a high school detective who got turned into a kid by the drug APTX4869 by the Black Syndicate. He solves mostly homicide and bloody murder cases.**

**I might create a comic adaption of this fanfiction, but I don't know if I have the time or strength to do it. To see what Takuya and the other's would look like, go to my D-Chess Set collection on my Deviantart**** account. It also includes Kyochi, Takashi, Masaki, and Kimi. Four important OCs of mine for this story and the remainder of the other four Warriors.**


	12. The Courage to Continue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon Frontier or any cultural references in this story.**

**Warning: Rated T for some bloody violence, a few minor languages, and minor sexual scenes **

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Eleven: The Courage to Continue**

The sun was at high noon when Izumi received shocking news of Ami's horrifying assault. Just about an hour ago, she and her friends were planning the rest of their summer vacation together and were planning on going to the big events that were to be held at the mall the next day. Later, they were joined by Takashi and Masaki, two out of three boys of whom they had met the night before during the Obon Festival. It had appeared that Kyochi, the other boy that the kids met, couldn't be there because of some sort of family business.

It all started well when Takashi and Masaki joined Takuya and his friends at their tables in the park. They were discussing the events the next day and why Kyochi couldn't join. It appeared that as a medical student, not only was he busy trying to get his degree, but also that his family seeks his appearances with them. But then Takashi told everyone what had happened on his street last night. It appeared that a girl by the name of Ami Tsujimura was attacked by a culprit who didn't leave his trail behind. The details were stunning and a bit gruesome. But it wasn't the fact that how it happened shock everyone, it was the fact that it had happened to someone that they knew.

Being a friend of hers, the shocking news struck Izumi to the core. At first, she was silent. Her green eyes were wide-opened in disbelief. The color of her skin seemed pale as though all of the sunshine and laughter had died away. "A-are y-you serious?" Izumi asked, her hands trembling. "Are you saying t-that one of my friends is d-d-dea—"

Izumi didn't get to finish when she saw that the red hair boy nodded sadly. No one had expected her to break down and cry. Hiding her face behind her hands, Izumi cried and cried, her tears leaking down her cheeks and hands. "W-why? How could this have happened? She was just fine yesterday morning! It's my fault! I should have asked her to join us last night!"

The other boys and the two animals didn't know what to do. But then, it was Takuya and Junpei who tried to comfort her. "It's not your fault, Izumi-chan. You couldn't have known."

"I'm sorry," Takashi spoken up, his face seemed regretful for bringing bad news. "I didn't mean to upset you. I didn't know that you're her friend from school."

Izumi didn't reply as if she didn't hear him. Junpei, on the other hand, glared at Takashi with threatening brown eyes. "I think you should go. You've done enough for one day, haven't you?"

"You can't blame him for that!" Masaki snapped angrily and he got up from his seat. "It's not his fault that her classmate is dead!"

"He's right Junpei," Tomoki exclaimed. "He didn't know that Ami's a classmate of yours."

"Tomoki-kun, stay out of th—" said Junpei but then Tomoki cut him in.

"No! stop it, Junpei! I'm not a little kid anymore so don't treat me like one!"

"But he deliberately told us about it! And now look!" Junpei said, point at Izumi, who was still crying. Meanwhile, Takuya was still comforting her. Usually, Junpei would get jealous over this but right now, he was too angry and occupied to do so. "Izumi-chan is in hysterical! And now, we don't even know if Ami's alive or dead!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Kouji jumped in. His deep, blue eyes darkened dangerously, warning them all to not push it. Kouji, being the logical and calculating one, can be demanding when leadership calls. It was the unwritten law in their group that Kouji is their second leader. When Takuya isn't there, it was Kouji who took charge over the disputes. Turning to Junpei, he remarked calmly in a very serious tone, although a hint of anger sparked up in it. "Junpei, you can't blame Takashi for being the bearer of bad news. What happened to Ami wasn't his fault and you know it. So don't have a vendetta against him just because Izumi's crying over it."

"Easy for you to say, tough guy," Junpei relented. "You can't deny that you have something to do with this, too!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Did you forget already? Then let me remind ya, buddy," said Junpei, pointing a finger at Kouji in annoyance. "Ami asked you out yesterday, remember? And what did you do? You turned her down just like that."

"So?" Kouji asked, a bit annoyed himself.

"So if you would have said yes, Ami wouldn't have been walking home late at night on her own and she wouldn't have been attack!"

"Are you saying that it's my fault?" Kouji demanded icily.

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying!"

"Guys, forget it!" said a voice. It was Izumi who had spoken up when they all turned to her. Apparently, she had decided to stop crying over Takuya's should. Whipping away her tears on her sleeves, she said, "It's not their fault, Junpei, and you know it."

Junpei was silent and was too ashamed at her words to say anything. He knew that she was right but he didn't feel like admitting it.

"Will you be alright, Izumi?" Tomoki asked.

"Yeah," she nodded as she sniffed back the last of her tears. "I'll be fine."

"Um, I don't think I have made it clear or if you didn't hear me before," Takashi cleared his voice as he spoke. But this time, his voice seemed caring and concern for her. It was as if though the obnoxious and bad-mouthed redhead that they had knew him to be of some sort was gone. And here in his place was someone who seemed to care and regretted his actions for being the bearer of bad news.

"Don't you think you've caused us enough worries as it is?" Kouji eyed him coldly, sending shivers down his spine. But instead of showing it, Takashi stood his ground firmly like a tree standing firm with its roots into the ground.

"Just listen," he said. "I didn't say that your friend, Ami, is dead. The police officers told me that she's in the hospital right now."

"He's right," said Tomoki, his eyes lit up. Turning to Takuya and Izumi, he said, "If what Takashi says is true, then Ami might be alright. Think about it, if she was found dead…"

Takuya finally got what his young friend was hinting and said, "If Ami was found dead, they wouldn't have transported her to the hospital would they? Izumi, Ami could still be fine!"

"Are you sure?" Izumi asked, sniffing back a bit of her remaining tears.

"Yes, they only transport corpses to a laboratory for autopsies. If Takashi's right and if Ami's in the hospital…"

"Then there's still a chance that's she's alive," Kouji said as a matter of fact, crossing his arms.

"Well?" Takashi asked Izumi hopefully.

Izumi nodded and smiled a bit. It was a little curve of a smile, indicating a small hope that her friend and classmate would make it out alive. She didn't have to say anything. Her gesture was enough for everyone to understand. It was enough for Takashi to know that she had forgiven him and that she was grateful for him telling her this little bit of the news. It was what she needed in hopes for her friend's survival.

"Thanks, Takashi-kun," she said. Turning to Takuya, she told him, "I'm going to see her, Takuya. I want to know if Ami-chan's alright."

Takuya understood. It was natural for her to be concern and it was sort of motherly of her wanting to be there for a family or a close friend. Even though he knew that Ami doesn't usually joins them in their little group when hanging out, Ami was still closed to Izumi, along with Chiaki and the other girls. Being the only girl in their group, Izumi can sometime feel left out or out of place. So sometime, she would hang out with her classmates and other friends of girls by joining clubs and after school activities. To her, Izumi felt as though they are another part of her families, although not as closed as Takuya and the others, but still it was all the same.

Sighing and shaking his head, Takuya said to her, "I'll go with you, Izumi, if you want."

"Thanks," Izumi replied gently.

"Meow," said Löwe.

Izumi looked down at him sweetly and laughed a little bit as she gave him one last scratch behind the ears. "Sorry," she said, although a bit sadly. "I'm afraid they won't allow animals in the hospital during visits."

"Meow," Löwe replied as if he understood her and accepted it.

Takuya turned to Takashi and asked him, "Hey, do you know which hospital they took Ami to?"

"Yeah, it's Beika Hospital," Takashi replied and then he offered, "I can show you the way."

"No, thanks," Kouji said coldly. "We can find our way there. You two should go. Haven't you done enough for one day?"

Takashi sighed in defeat and began to walk away. Masaki gave Kouichi a sorrowful look and an almost disappointed one at that, too. Looking behind him, Kouichi noticed that his brother and his friends were walking away, with Lobo following behind their heels. Löwe, on the other hand, remained loyally behind with his master.

"Let us know if she's going to be okay," Masaki said steadily. Kouichi raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I meant both of them," the younger boy explained. "Your friend, Izumi, and also Ami. I hoped that things will be okay for them both."

Kouichi nodded as he watched Masaki turned around and followed his friend to the other side of the park and the city. Hearing Kouji and the others calling him, Kouichi gestured to Löwe to follow him silently. As he and Löwe caught up with the others, Kouichi suddenly realized that for some strange reason, he didn't seem to care much. Not about Izumi's worrying over her friend, nor for Ami's survival.

* * *

It was decided then that Lobo and Löwe would obediently stay outside since the hospital wouldn't let them in. While the six teenagers were inside, the two of them sat by the sliding glass doors, watching patients and visitors going in and out. A few children who were visiting their grandparents with their mothers and fathers cooed and patted them both affectionately.

"Look, Otou-san! Daddy, Daddy, look! A kitty and a doggy!" said a girl with short brown hair. Around her neck was a small digital camera and it tapped gently on Lobo's head. The girl hugged them affectionately and scratched them behind their ears. "Can we keep them, Daddy? Can we keep them?"

"No, they have collars, Hikari," her father laughed. "They probably belonged to someone. Let's go, your mother and Taichi are waiting."

Hikari seems disappointed but skipped happily after her father as they both walked into the hospital.

It was after that and then that Lobo and Löwe managed to find a little bit of peace. Löwe climbed on top of his friend's back and positioned himself comfortably yet firmly as Lobo began to speak.

"Löwe, do you think that it's a coincidence?" he asked.

"Lobo, you know very well that I don't think that it's coincidence at all. Have you forgotten what Gali always believed in?" Löwe reminded him.

Lobo sighed and quoted what Gali always said, "_There is no coincidence in this world, only the inevitable_".

"That's right," Löwe huffed, "If what that redhead boy says is true, then perhaps we were too late in stopping Dusk from taking over Kouichi's body."

"I told you that we can't know that for sure!" Lobo pointed out. "Don't you remember that he was _inside _of the house this morning? If Dusk managed to possess the boy last night, then he wouldn't be able to bypass the barrier. And I don't think that Dusk would risk possessing the boy while he was out last night, attack the girl, and then leave his host to return home."

"Yes, that would have been too risky since only one victim's blood wouldn't be enough to maintain his strength under such a night with a full moon," Löwe agreed. He then hesitated, and his expression became somewhat troubled. "I think we have to find out if Kouichi has that mark. If we can find it, it will tell us if the boy is Dusk's host or not."

"But we can't just pounce on him like that just for that reason, Löwe!" Lobo exclaimed. "Neither can we ask them right now. We don't have enough proof in order to speak to them."

"You're right, Lobo. We can't speak to them yet and warn them of the danger. But if we don't and instead wait, Dusk's influences will grow stronger and stronger with each passing victims and he won't let us near the boy at all in order to rescue his hostage."

"Then what should we do?" Lobo snapped angrily. "We can't just sit here, playing the lovable and loyal pet cat and dog while Dusk could be planning another murder this instance! For all we know, that little blonde girl up in that hospital room right now is probably crying over her friend's tragic incident and she has the right to be. She's in hysterical all because we couldn't do our job right as guardians."

Löwe shook his head. "I don't know. I wish I knew all of the answers, my friend. But if I can't find a way to protect Kouichi and his brother, then how can I find a way to help them defeat Dusk?"

Lobo didn't answer. Instead, he lowered himself to the ground, letting Löwe climbed off of his back and onto the paved-brick ground again. Sighing in defeat, he said, "If only we have some sort of charm or some kind of spell. That way, we can know for sure if Kouichi's under Dusk's influence without approaching the boy physically."

Suddenly, Löwe's ears pricked up at his friend's suggestion. Looking up at him, Löwe gave him a smile of satisfaction. "That's it! Why didn't we thought it sooner? Lobo, you're a genius!"

"What do you mean?" Lobo asked curiously, though he was a bit confused at first.

"You said that if we have some sort of spell, then we could know for sure if Kouichi has the mark on his body without pouncing on him," Löwe explained patiently. "A spell or more like…a magical barrier!"

Now Lobo wasn't following Löwe's implement at all, whatsoever. "But Gali already set up a barrier on the Minamoto's residence."

"Yes, but Dusk could have found a loophole in order to bypass that barrier. We didn't realize that there's a difference between our barrier and hers!" Löwe said.

"What are you saying, Löwe?" Lobo asked.

"If Dusk had found a loophole to our barrier, then would he have found one to Gali's?" Löwe asked him. Lobo's eyes were wide opened as soon as he realized what his friend was implying. "Gali's a powerful enchantress. If the magical barrier on her house is still as strong as before…" Löwe soon trailed off.

"…then we might be able to use it to our advantage!" Lobo finished his friend's sentence and finally understood how they could achieve their goal. "We can try and get the twins to follow us to Gali's place. And if Kouichi shows any signs of aggression or such, then we can be sure that he is definitely under Dusk's control."

"Right," Löwe confirmed. "But knowing Gali, she would probably demand payment for such an act on her property. But I think I can pay it off with my badge."

Lobo shook his head at Löwe's mentioning of Gali's rules. "That greedy witch. But I guess it can't be help since it would provide total balance over the magical and spiritual fields. Do you remember where she said she would be?"

"Of course! We just passed by it a month ago on our way from the airport, remember?" said Löwe. "Now all we have to do now is wait for them and their friends to finish their visit from the hospital. Then right after they part ways from their friends, we'll make a break for it."

"Agreed."

* * *

"Wait! Where are you all going?" said the receptionist.

"I'm looking for Ami Tsujimura!" said Izumi impatiently. If it weren't for his job, the receptionist wouldn't have notice the hint of anxiety and worry in the girl's voice and eyes. In fact, he had seen it far too often as any other doctors and nurses working here. Grabbing the files of the recent patients, he flipped through them again.

"Didn't you here her, buddy," said Takuya in annoyance.

"Her name's Tsujimura Ami and she's my friend. She was recently in an incident and—"

"Hold up! Just wait for a second, will ya?" the receptionist said as he flipped through the files for said patient's name. "Tsuji…Tsuji…here it is! Tsujimura Ami. She's on the seventh floor in room 213A and—hey WAIT! YOU CAN'T GO IN THERE!"

The receptionist's words were lost as Takuya and the others ran after Izumi as she dashed for the elevator. Pressing the button over and over again, Izumi grew more and more frustrated when the lights signaled the elevator stopping on level 10. Seeing a sign indicating the nearest restrooms and staircases, she abandoned the elevator and ran straight for the stairways. He friends following her heels, dodged a few patients in wheelchairs and passing nurses and doctors on the way up. None of them stopped until they've all reached their destination. By then, all of them were almost out of breath.

"Oh my, from the looks on your faces, I think that your rush seemed quite important," said a voice. It was a young nurse coming out of the door of their goal. She was fairly young and pretty, with dark brown hair and black hair cut short to her shoulders. Her uniform was crisped and clean and was just as white brilliant as most of the passing nurses and doctors going on by.

Steadying her breath, Izumi demanded to see her friend Ami right away.

Nodding, the nurse said gently, "Alright, but only if you promised to be quiet. There are patients here whom are resting from their surgeries."

Opening the door and into the room, the nurse announced to the doctor inside of the latest addition of visitors. "Watsuki-sensei? There is a girl and a group of her friends here and she claimed that she's a friend of Ami-chan."

"All right, let them in," said a soft and feminine voice.

Hearing that familiar name, Izumi and the others were greeted by a woman doctor. She was wearing what seems to be one of those teal uniforms when doctor were performing surgery. The doctor seemed quite young and beautiful with her blue eyes and long dark, raven-blue hair. In her hand was a set of clipboard and papers as she wrote down information of her patient.

Looking up from her notes, the doctor welcomed the group warmly. "Hello, I'm Dr. Kotone Watsuki. You must be Ami-chan's classmates, are you not? You've arrived just in time. The others and I have just finished with her surgery a moment ago."

Takuya and the others nodded as he introduced himself along with the others. By the time they finished, they soon realized that Dr. Watsuki was standing next to a hospital bed hidden by a curtain. Pulling it aside, Izumi gasped as she covered her mouth in shock at Ami's sickly feature.

Her friend, Ami, was as pale as a corpse. There were barely any warmth or color in her cheeks. On her face laid an oxygen mask to aid her in breathing and a few nods and patches on her temple to monitor her brainwaves. She was connected to a machine, indicating the levels of her breathing rate, heart beats, and blood pressure. From the looks of it, it didn't look good at all.

"What happened to her?" Izumi cried, rushing to her friend's side.

Dr. Watsuki's eyes seemed weary and tired from the recent stress of the day. But none the less, she answered Izumi's question calmly. "It appeared that she was attacked by some sort of animal, but I don't buy it. Neither can it be human. It's strange, though. Since there were no signs of physical assault on her body such as a gunshot wound or a knife inflicted of the sort, and yet, she is drained of one fourth of her blood. What I don't understand is how. I couldn't find any markings on her indicating the source of blood lost. It appears as though she just simply passed out as a portion of her blood had just disappeared."

"What are you saying?" Kouji demanded. "You can't mean that she was attacked by an unknown force?"

"Actually, I'm not even sure," Dr. Watsuki sighed in defeat. "Of all of my years practicing medicine, I have never seen such a case as this. For the first time in my life, I don't know the answers."

"But what of Ami?" Izumi asked, her eyes watery again. "Is she going to be okay?"

Before Dr. Watsuki could answer, they were interrupted by a very familiar face and voice. At the door stood another medical practitioner. It was none other than Kyochi Watsuki, the boy whom Takuya and his friends had met the night before. Kyochi was wearing a white coat and a name tag, designating himself as a medical student. His blue eyes and hair color matched that of the woman doctor in the room with them. It was as though there existed a resemblence between them. He wasn't alone. There were two people with him, a man and a woman. Izumi recognized them as Ami's parents.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but Tsujimura-san and his wife is here to see Ami-chan. They wanted to know—Oh! Kouichi? Takuya? What are you guys doing here?" Kyochi asked in surprise when he noticed that the room was full.

"We should be asking you the same question, buddy," Takuya said.

"This is where I do medical practice during the summer. I told you that I'm a medical student, didn't I?" Kyochi said, a small smile appeared on his face. It wasn't a big smile, considering that he knew of the situation in the room.

The woman doctor and Ami's parents eyed the seven teenagers curiously. The man, who must be Ami's father, spoke up impatiently. "Who are these children and why are they disturbing my daughter? Can't you see that Ami is ill? She can't be disturbed by a roomful of adolescents!"

"Katsuro, please," said his wife, trying her best to calm her husband down despite her teary, red eyes. She seems as though she was about to break down any moment. "Don't act like this in front of an audience."

However, her husband doesn't seemed to be able to control himself but he made a good effort in repressing his anger. Dr. Watsuki nodded as she seems to be able to read their mind and understood his anger and his wife's sadness. Turning to Kyochi, she said gently, "Kyochi-kun, it seems as though you've met these kids before. Why don't you be a dear and kindly show them to the cafeteria downstairs? I'll deal with these two," she indicated toward the parents, "Is that alright?"

"Yes, Mother," Kyochi said, gesturing the others to leave. He had a bit of difficulty in trying to get Izumi to go but she seems reluctant to leave her friend's side. "I'll tell you about it on the way," he whispered to her. Izumi nodded as she dried her tears and left, leaving the woman doctor and the nurse to talk to Ami's parents.

After closing the door, Kouji asked in surprised, "That was your mother?"

Turning to him, Kyochi nodded. "Yes, my mother works here as a surgeon. That's why I wanted to enter the medical field…so that I can help people like her."

"But then, if you're working here, then that means that this is the place where you've introduced our mother to work at for her new job."

"Yes, it is," Kyochi confirmed, walking towards the elevator. The others followed suit. "Your mother, Tomoko Kimura, is working here as my mother's personal secretary. But I believe that she's talking a month off or so, am I right?"

"Yes," Kouichi said tonelessly, "I'm afraid she won't be back for awhile."

"That's too bad," Kyochi smiled, "Because my mother was getting fond of her work. She was much better than her last secretary. But enough about that." Turning to Takuya, he asked, "I didn't know that you're a friend of Ami Tsujimura."

"Actually, Izumi is," said Tomoki. "We're just accompanying her, really."

"I see," Kyochi replied.

They had finally reached the same elevator Izumi had reached not just long ago. But instead of waiting, the door _dinged_ and opened instantly at the touch of Kyochi's finger. Luckily for them, it was empty and it was also big enough for the seven of them to fit in with only one more room to spare. One by one, they all filed it, Kyochi being the last so that he could enter the numbered floor to the cafeteria below.

"Is Ami going to be okay?" Izumi spoke up. She clasped her hands together in hopes to hear good news.

Kyochi sighed as the doors of the elevator closed on them. The elevator _dinged_ again as it slowly brought them all down to their destined floor level. "My mother and the other surgeons were able to get enough blood to get her stable. But because of the amount of her lost of blood, Ami's will be unconscious for a while."

"So you're saying that she's comatose?"

"Yes, but for how long, I do not know. But I fear that her condition won't improve," Kyochi said sadly. The elevator doors opened, and one by one, they all filed out. "From what I've observe, this isn't a normal attack. After hearing the details of her surrounding and examining her wounds myself, I'm convinced that Ami's assaulter last night wasn't a large animal or even human at all."

"Are you saying that Ami was attacked by some sort of vampire like in the story?" Junpei accused angrily.

"That's stupid, Junpei," said Kouji, frowning. "There's no such thing. You've been too keen on Izumi's ghost story the other night."

"Of course not, Mr. I-don't-believe-in-fantasy-and-science-fiction! You are such an insensitive jerk, you know that?" Junpei retorted. "No wonder you don't have a girlfriend. Sometimes, I wonder why girls even bother to try and get you to go out with them. If you had been a little less assertive, then maybe none of this wouldn't have happened."

"You're accusing me again, aren't you?" Kouji demanded angrily. His voice was getting dangerously cold. A few nurses quickly rushed their patients away from him, noting the hint of the level of danger in his voice. "I had it with you pointing out my problems. It's not my fault that Ami is in the hospital!"

"Yeah right," Junpei chided. "Like it's Ami's fault and not yours that she's sickly in the hospital bed."

"CUT THE CRAP, I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS!" Kouji snapped angrily, causing a few more patients and nurses to avoid them even more. Kouichi, realizing a fight between then was able to start, bared between his brother and Junpei and scolded at them.

"Guys, guys!" he started, but then he noted towards Takuya and Izumi at the corner quietly and sadly. "I don't think this is the right time…"

Izumi was deeply sadden by her friend's unfortunately fate. A part of her felt as though it wanted to burst out and exploded and Izumi knew that it was another wave of her sadness. Not wanting to break down and cry again, she closed one hand over a fist and laid them both against her chest, as though it would had held against the bursting pain and tears. Looking down and closing her eyes, she tried not to show her attempt to suppress her emotion.

Takuya placed his hands on Izumi's shoulders, comforting her as best as he could. "How are you holding it up?" he asked, a hint of concern and kindness in his voice.

"I'm fine," she said.

"Doesn't seem like it, though, does it?" he asked.

"I guess not," Izumi laughed a bit, twinged at his perceptive voice. Letting her arms dropped, Izumi sadly asked him, "Takuya? What if Ami's dying? What if she can't make it?"

Takuya didn't know what to say at first. He didn't know what to say in order to reassure her or comfort her, even. Sighing in defeat, Takuya stood his ground, and began to ask her a question himself.

"Tell me something, Izumi-chan. It might seem stupid and silly of me to ask you this right now but…do you believe…in magic?"

Izumi looked at him in confusion. "I don't understand…"

I meant…do you believe in her? Your friend, Ami?" Takuya asked again. "Do you have faith in her to have the strength to go on?"

"I-I'm not sure, Takuya."

"Look, Izumi," he said, forcing her to look at him in the eyes as he gripped her by the shoulders. "I think that she needs you as a friend to believe in her. I think Ami wants you to go on even if she might or can't herself. She may be in a coma now, but crying over it won't make her wake up any sooner of feel any better. So why don't you wipe away those tears and help her move on?"

"I don't think I know how, Takuya," Izumi admitted. "How can I be acting happy, knowing that one of my best friends is lying upstairs? How can you expect me to resume my life just like that?"

"Because I know that deep down, Ami wouldn't want to see you like this. She would have wanted you and the others to continue on and be happy, for her sake." Takuya was a bit embarrassed as his cheeks flushed red hot as he continued to admit. "And the truth is that…I want you to be happy…for my sake, too."

Izumi smiled at him in affection as though never before. Here, she stands and witnessing a side of Takuya which she had never seen before. Izumi knew that she liked Takuya and he liked her in a way, but she never knew that he can be so understanding and caring as this before.

"I guess I could still go to that book signing event tomorrow," she trailed off. "Ami liked _Spiritual-HoLic_, too. Maybe I should get her a copy signed while I'm there."

"Want me to go with you?" Takuya offered, blushing.

"That would be nice," Izumi blushed in return as she smiled a bit.

* * *

Takuya and the others decided not to eat at the hospital cafeteria. They knew that Kyochi was busy and had decided not to keep him away too long. Instead of joining the others, Kouji and Kouichi decided to go home and ready themselves for their trip tomorrow.

"We have to accompany our father on his business trip tomorrow," Kouichi explained.

"I understand. I also have to attend to my sister's family affair tomorrow, too. But I think we'll meet again soon enough. It's a shame that I can't introduce you and your friends to my sister last night," Kyochi replied as he saw them to the hospital doors. There, they were met by Lobo and Löwe, whom were sitting patiently at the side. "I'll inform you if there's any changes at all in Ami's condition. Don't worry, I'll keep my eyes on her."

"Thank you, Kyochi-kun," Izumi said. "You've been kind."

Kyochi nodded and went back inside of the hospital, the hem of his coat billowing behind him. Suddenly, he turned around and said, "Oh um, Kouichi-kun?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"Are you feeling alright? You've seem kind of different today, that's all," said Kyochi, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. It just seems as though…you've been kind of distant today than usual."

* * *

"What was that about, Nii-san?" Kouji asked.

"Hmm? What were you saying, Kouji?" Kouichi asked, a bit dazed.

"There you go again. Weren't you listening to me?"

"I think Kyochi's right," Takura agreed. "You've been keeping to yourself and kinda quiet most of the time today. What's up, buddy?"

"It's nothing, really," Kouichi said, trying to reassure his friends.

They had parted ways with Izumi, Junpei, and Tomoki about two blocks ago. Apparently, Takuya decided to leave Izumi alone in the others' care, knowing that she'll be alright without him for now. Lobo and Löwe, on the other hand, were quietly leading their masters towards a district not too far away from the hospital. They were trying their best to lead the boys towards Gali's place, where they hoped, that her barrier was still up and working as strong as ever. They need it to determine if Kouichi is under Dusk's influence at all. So far, they managed to crossed a few streets and into a more peaceful and quiet neighborhood. Soon, they were surrounded by fancy houses on both sides of the street.

"Are you sure? Because if I remembered correctly, you seemed to space out a lot more often today. Don't lie, Kouichi. What's going on?" Takuya demanded as he kicked his soccer ball as they continued to follow Lobo and Löwe.

"Kouichi, are you alright?" Kouji asked.

"I'm fine, I'm just tired, that's all. There's nothing to get concern over," Kouichi replied in annoyance. "I'm not made of glass so stop treating me like one."

Before either boys could question him any further, Lobo and Löwe suddenly made a dash for Gali's house. Realizing his dog's escape, Kouji ran after him followed suit by Takuya and his brother.

"Hey, come back!" he cried, dodging a few trashcans at the turn of a sharp corner. "Bad boy. Sit! Stop! Lobo, get back here!"

"What's gotten into them?" Takuya asked running beside the twins, his soccer ball held in one arm.

"Hell, how should I know?" Kouji replied.

"What's gotten into them?" Kouichi asked, trying to grab Löwe but missed. "Löwe, come back! Where are you going?"

The three of them continued to chase after Lobo and Löwe, not noticing the district and neighborhood that they're in. The chase seems to last for about ten minutes or so. The high noon sun was beating down on their backs, increasing the amount of sweats on their brows as they continued to give chase.

Suddenly as they had started to ran, Lobo and Löwe stopped in front of a house, waiting for their masters to catch up. Before the twins could grabbed them and dragged them home by their collars, both cat and dog entered pass the boundary of the fence to the residence.

"Lobo, get over here right now!" Kouji commanded. "You, too, Löwe! You can't just walk onto someone else's property. What are you trying to do, take a leak? Now get over here!"

Lobo and Löwe stood their ground and didn't move. Unknown to their masters, they were waiting. They were waiting to see the result. They were waiting to see if Kouichi can pass the barrier.

"I said get over here or so help me, I'll go and get you two myself!" Kouji warned them again. Still, they didn't move.

Takuya stood by, amused at where they've ended up in. all around them were fancy houses. They all have two stories high structure, a large front yard, balconies, porches, elegant designs in western style. Each one bigger and grander than the next as it's seemed. But the ground of the house that Lobo and Löwe entered wasn't as grand. In fact, it was still elegant but not as much compare against the others around them. This one was particularly strange in design. It had some traditional Japanese texture in taste and design. It was modest, to say the least, as it was sort of dark and mysterious, both in color and in feeling. The front yard has a zen garden on one side, with a small koi fish pond in the center connected to another only by a small river. A small, Japanese garden style bridge welcomes them from the entrance and into the front door. It was definitely a weird house, despite the strange familiar feeling and aura to it.

"Nii-san, why don't you grab Löwe and I'll drag Lobo out of there before the owner comes out," said Kouji, stepping in and passed the fence. When he walked pass the fence, Kouji felt a strange feeling tingling that sent chills down his spines. But it was a small feeling and so he brushed it aside. It wasn't threatening so he didn't take much noticed of it. "Kouichi?"

Turning around, his brother didn't answer him, instead, he just stood where he was, looking glum.

"Kouichi? Are you going to help me or just stand there all day?" Kouji asked as he walked back outside and tried to drag his brother in to help him reclaim their pets.

"Don't touch me," Kouichi said icily.

"What?"

"I said don't touch me!" Kouichi repeated. "I'm not setting a foot in that place!"

"Kouichi, what has gotten into you?" Kouji demanded insistently. "Kyochi's right, you've been acting weird lately. What's going on?"

"I told you, it's nothing, okay?" said Kouichi, only this time, he was calming down a bit. "I'm…I'm not feeling well. I'm going home."

"Are you sure? What about your cat. You're not going to just leave him there, are you?" Takuya asked.

"Well, well, well…" said a familiar voice behind them, catching all of the three boys' attention. It was Gali, the Oracle from last night. "And what pleasure do I find myself in the company of you boys on this fine day?"

"What are you doing here?" Kouji replied rudely, glaring at her.

"I _live_ here, of course," Gali said with a smirk. She was wearing a kelp green dress with a few pins and ornaments glistening in the sun as they adorn her blue hair. Gali stepped forward and noted Lobo and Löwe's presences on her front yard. She gently scratched Lobo by the ears and looked on at the three boys before her.

"To what business do you have with me today? Are you curious to know more what has happened to your classmate, Ami? Or did you just happen to come by chasing these two onto my property?"

The boys' eyes rose at her mentioning of Ami. "How did you know about Ami?" Takuya demanded. "Was it because of your 'mystical powers'?"

"Why no, it's been all over the news this morning, of course," Gali replied with a smile and a wave of her hand. Then she frown and walked over towards them. "I'm sorry what had happened to your classmate, but there's nothing that I can do right now. I cannot govern over life and death. If your friend, Izumi, wishes for her friend's recovery, then she must hoped in the best of Kyochi-kun's ability. He will do his best but only his best. You'll meet him and his friends again soon."

"Why are you telling us this?" Kouji asked. "What does he and his friends mean anything to us?"

"Because if you haven't noticed, the bond between you and them have been created," Gali replied. "No matter how brief your encounters with them is, a bond has been created, connected you all together in a web of acquaintances and friendship. Value it, and when the time has come for you to depend on it, it shall not disappoint you."

"Thanks for the advice, but we have to go," Kouji said, grabbing his brother by the arm and dragging him towards home. Turning around, he said, "Lobo, Löwe! Come here, now!"

"Why the rush?" Gali asked. "You've just got here."

"Your place gives me the creeps, and ever since meeting you, my brother has been acting differently," Kouji remarked coldly.

"Has he?" Gali asked, brushing off his cold glare. "You believe that I have something to do with it?"

Kouji turned around and glared at her even more coldly than before. In a warning and dangerous tone, he said to her, "Lady, I don't know what or who you are, but if I find out that you have something to do my brother's strange behavior, I'll make you wish that you were never here right now. But my instinct tells me that you are to be trusted. But if you were ever to be the one who hurts my brother or my friends, all I need is a sword to take you down."

Gali didn't flinch at his warning nor shivers from his cold glare. Instead, she just smiled as she bent over and whispered in his ears, "That is what will keep you strong and resistant against the Darkness. Watch your brother, and be careful when you meet _her_ tomorrow."

"What do you mean?"

"Why don't you run along home now, hmm?" she brushing her dress and she stood up. "Don't worry about your pets. I'll keep my eyes on them. You may not know it, but they can find their way back home without you guiding them."

"Fine," Kouichi replied as he walked off. "C'mon, Kouji. I don't want to stay here another second. Let's go home."

Giving her one last glare, Kouji followed suit along with Takuya. Waiting until they disappeared around the corner, Gali walked back inside and took a seat on her porch. She pulled out a tray full of bottles of sakes and poured herself a cup. Lobo and Löwe approached her carefully and took a seat next to her and waited until she was finished.

"You are here because you wanted to ask me something, don't you two?" she said finally, setting her empty cup down and began to stare off into the sky. "You weren't sure if the barrier that I have made for you last night would have held out against Dusk. Instead of contacting me telepathically, you've decided to use my barrier in order to see for yourself if the boy is under Dusk's control, is that not right?"

"Your accusation hurts, Gali," Löwe admitted. "But none the less, it is true. The boy seems a bit distant and kept to himself more often today than yesterday. We weren't sure of it ourselves until we've heard the news from Takashi."

"That girl was foolish in trying to go to the festival alone and returning home alone," Gali replied. "I've warned her before hand, yet she still didn't listen to me. And now she has paid the price in blood. Her selfishness and jealousy had nearly cost her her life."

"But does Dusk have anything to do with it?" Lobo asked.

"What do you think?" Gali asked him calmly, pouring herself another cup. "I've given Kouichi a warning to not go out at night on his own. He, too, went beyond to safety of the barrier of which I have created and had encountered Dusk under the cover of night. Upon his return, the barrier was broken and it no longer exist."

"But how?" Lobo demanded with frustration. "Even if Kouichi was possessed, Dusk's spirit wouldn't have been able to enter through the barrier."

"He has founded a loophole in order to bypass it, Lobo," Gali said. "The barrier repels any evil spirits with bad intention on the residences. But if a member of the household invites a spirit in, the spell is null and void. Because Kouji and Kouichi are twins, it wouldn't be too hard for Dusk to figure it all out. By possessing the boy, Dusk was able to tricked Kouji into inviting his brother back in, along with himself as the parasite."

"Then that means that we were too late," Löwe said in disappointment. "Again we have failed in stopping Dusk from taking what he wanted. Damn it. And now because of him, the girl, Ami, is lying in critical condition at the hospital."

"Do not despair, my friends," Gali replied, trying to reassure them. "Dusk had managed to possessed the boy for now, but Kouichi is only his temporary host. He cannot keep the boy forever. It will not do for him. He needs his real body and is searching for it while he drinks blood at night."

"Then what shall we do?" Lobo asked her.

"You must notify Kouichi of the situation. Try to get him to fight against Dusk and banish him from his body. Because that body of his doesn't belong to Dusk, he is not welcome to use it as long as his host doesn't permits it," Gali stood up and went inside of the house. She opens a door and gesture Lobo and Löwe to follow her inside. Taking a seat on a cushion, Gali pulled out two objects from under the table. It appeared to be some sort of a pendant with a crystal in the center while a metal frame wrapped around it elegantly. The other object is a mirror; the mirror of the goddess of the sun.

Putting both objects down on the table in front of them, she said, "It won't be easy. Dusk is aware of your presences so he will try to make Kouichi avoid both of you as much as possible. If you don't tell Kouichi soon and make him understand the danger that he's in, I'm afraid Dusk will shed more blood in the future until it is too late."

"Then, there is no hope for that girl?" Löwe asked, afraid of the answer.

"Ami is a strong girl, but she was vulnerable at that time. She was just there at the wrong time and in the wrong place," Gali replied tonelessly. "That boy, Kyochi, will do his best to save her. He's special. I can tell."

"How so?" Löwe asked curiously.

"He was born with an ability to read people, Löwe," Gali said with a smile. "Didn't you hear what he said a moment ago before you left?"

"Now that you've mentioned it," Lobo replied and he tried to remember. "That boy had noticed that Kouichi was acting differently. He noticed it before Kouji did, even though they're not related. But how?"

"Kyochi Watsuki can sense a change of flow of patterns in a person's daily life," Gali explained. "Even after just meeting them for a brief moment, he can recognize a person's usual characteristic signature and distinguish it. He may not even realize of this gift himself, but I must admit that it is useful. But his sister…she possesses a greater prize."

"What do you mean?"

"I meant that Kyochi and his sister possesses special gifts given to them from birth. Their abilities can help aid you and your quest to fight against Dusk in the final battle. Remember what I have said. Even if you have only met a person briefly, a bond is created between you and that person and it will come in handy when you need it."

Without another word, Gali touched the center of the sacred mirror. At her touch, the smoothed surface of it rippled like throwing a pebble in still water, disturbing its surface. At first, there was nothing, but then, a hazy figure of a boy began to appear. It was Kyochi. Then the images change and reflected Kouji instead. Then it switches to Kouichi. All of them held different expressions on their faces. Kyochi seemed concerned because of Ami's condition whom he had hoped to improve and that of his family whom he hoped to be with. Kouji's face seemed worried because of his brother's strange behavior and he didn't know why. Kouichi's sadness because he was now more confused than ever. He wasn't aware that it was him who drank Ami's blood and it was Dusk's influence that's torturing his heart. He didn't remember the pack that he had made with Dusk and he didn't even remember torturing Ami the night before. He didn't realize that with each passing hours, he's becoming more different than what he once was as Dusk's strength improves with each blood that he'd consumed. Yet, deep down inside, he knew something was wrong.

"_Campfire, stars, candles…they all light the warm darkness of a summer evening as do fireflies circling each other, never touching but always near. We human know this dance, too. Everyday we pass into and out of each other's lives. Everyday, so much goes unsaid, so many feelings go unshared and then we are left in the dark."_

And with that, the reflection on the mirror changed once again…only this time; it revealed a young girl whom they have never seen before. And this time, the expression on her face was that of loneliness.

**Author's Notes: I'm sorry for the delay but I have been busy. Not a great chapter but it's important. I don't know when the next one will be up but I'll try to update it faster. Don't expect any fast results, though.**

**Cultural references:**

**Hikari is the Eighth Digidestined from the very first season of Digimon, Digimon Adventure.**

**Beika Hospital is the name of a hospital in the **_**Case Closed **_**manga series. I'm not sure if it's real or not…I think it is.**

**The scene where Takuya tried to comfort and reassure Izumi is a homage to a scene between Orube and Cedric from the Italian comic, _W.i.t.c.h. issue #61._  
**

**The house that Gali lives in is similar in design to that of Yuuko's from CLAMP's **_**xxxHoLic.**_

**The mirror that Gali used at the end of this chapter is a copy of the sacred Mirror of the Goddess Amaterasu. It is one of Japan's three most sacred treasure. It is hung in a Shinto temple in Japan right now.**

**The quote that Gali spoke up at the end of this chapter is what Yuuko says in the English DVD version.**


	13. Speaking of the Past

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon Frontier or any of its characters.**

**Warning: Rated T for some bloody violence, a few minor languages, and minor sexual scenes **

**What's happening in this chapter: Lobo and Löwe at last, speaks to their masters and revealing the past and danger.**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Twelve: Speaking of the Past**

Day turned into night as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. The moon took her turn to dominate the sky, draped in a silver dress with a black and starry cloak trailing behind her. Although the full moon was over, she was still as beautiful as ever before as she walked over the city of Tokyo. For all over its colorful and bright lights, Tokyo wasn't as breathtaking without the moon's shining luster.

As the hours toll by, less and less people occupied the streets, despite Tokyo being one of the cities in the world that never sleeps. Although the streets may be crowded and noisy with nightclubs, cars, and chattering people, it was the docks that became quiet.

At a bay near the man-made island of Odaiba, the last boats of the day were being pulled in for the night. The stench of fish and sea dominates the air. For some, it was a place only for fishermen and merchants, for others; however, it was familiar as home.

The night was cold by the sea, chilled by the gentle, salty air. The moon hovered above, a reflection of her pale face in the water. The last group of fish merchants had already left, leaving no one at the docks. All of the boats had been anchored and tied to their posts. The fishes and crabs were loaded and stored and were ready to be ship off tomorrow to the markets. Unknown to all, there was a little boy standing all by himself at the pier.

Kouichi Kimura hadn't realized where he was or how he had gotten there. But one thing for sure is that the place was beginning to chill him to his bones. He knew that it wasn't the cold, soft wind and air, but it was something that was to come. Not knowing what to do or where to go, Kouichi decided to take a few steps forward, his arms wrapped around himself trying to get himself home.

Strangely though, Kouichi found himself at the other side of the docks when the scenes around him shifted. Looking around, he saw no one. He was alone…or maybe not. A suddenly gust of wind blew, but it didn't bothered Kouichi at all. It just passed through him but disturbed the water and the rocked the boats. A few boxes piled on top of each other were leveled after the strong sea wind has passed. A few of the lips cracked opened, revealing fishing nets and ropes.

"Damn it!"

Kouichi jumped at the voice coming from behind him. Turning around, he saw a man in his middle age carrying a cartload of fishing nets and ropes. He didn't seemed to be able to notice Kouichi or shown any sign of awareness of the boy's presence.

"Just when I was about to stock up the last box, the entire stacks had to come down from some god damn sea winds," the grunted, walking through Kouichi, literally, and towards the leveled pillar of boxes.

Again, Kouichi felt like a spirit wandering around here. Not knowing what to do or where to go next, he just stood where he was and watched.

One by one, the man, who seemed to be a fish merchant, stacked up the boxes full of fishing equipments neatly in their places and loaded them onto his boat. Kouichi guessed that this fish merchant must be the last one to leave the docks on account that he kept hearing the man swearing and complaining about getting stuck with the night shift.

Finally, after putting away the last box, the fish merchant closed his warehouse and tied his boat down. As he was about to leave, Kouichi felt chills running down his spines. Above his head, the clouds drifted over and covered the moon's glowing face. A curtain had draped over her, cloaking the entire docks into darkness, leaving only the lamps glowing dimly. Looking up, Kouichi spotted something sprinting by as soon as the moon was covered. Suddenly, like before, the lights on the docks shattered.

"What?" the fish merchant exclaimed. The shattering glasses startled him so and he stumbled back a few paces. And then, Kouichi saw the sprinting shadow passed by the man again and again. Taunting him as it knocked over craters and sending the shards of glasses into the water as it skidded by.

"Who is there?" the fish merchant demanded, although there was a hint of nervousness in his voice. "S-s-show yourself, you c-coward!"

"Actually, it looks more like you're the cowardly one, you fool," said a voice behind him. It was a mocking voice as though hearing it, Kouichi knew that it was the voice of a predator, playing with its food. The voice, again, was the same as last time, although Kouichi couldn't remember how or why. But it was so icy that it just sent chills down his spine.

The fish merchant turned around and faced a shadowy figure that was a bit shorter than him by a foot. The man knew that it was just a child, but hearing an man's voice coming from its mouth, he wasn't so sure.

"B-but y-you're…you're just a kid!" the man pointed out.

"And you're just an annoying prick who's about to become my prey," the shadowed figure walked closer towards the taller man in front of him. Raising a hand towards him, it spoke words so powerful that the fish merchant couldn't move his own body.

"_You're nothing more than a worthless peasant. Your bitterness and anger towards the world feeds my thirst. Why bother fighting it when I can spare you from your life of misery? After all, you have no one else left in your life."_

"N-n-no. No, please…" the man begged, dropping to his knees pathetically. But the shadowy figure laughed hauntingly and struck the man down on the grown.

"Begging won't do you much good, you know," the shadowy figure taunted. "After all, I'm just a heartless, blood-thirsty person. Why should I spare a meal that's so easily here at my feet?"

Tracing his hand on his cheek where the shadowy figure had slapped him, the fish merchant felt blood running down from the wound. Looking up, he saw the evil figure looking down on him with savage crimson eyes. "N-no, please. Spare me…"

"You're nothing more than an annoying prick to this side of the city," said the shadowy figure. "You won't be missed at all…"

**"NO!"** Kouichi shouted, but it was useless as he watched the monster in front of him leaned in for the kill.

* * *

"Kouichi! Kouichi wake up!" said an unfamiliar voice in the distant.

"No! No, don't do it!" Kouichi moaned as he tossed and turned in his bed.

"Young master, please you have got to wake up!" Löwe cried insistently. He jumped onto the bed next to the boy and began to pat him gently, but also insistently, on the face.

Kouichi stopped moaning and opened his eyes groggily. He first noticed his cat next to his face and then the alarm clock on his bedside table. It labeled 6:24 in the morning.

"Löwe, it's still too early," Kouichi groaned in annoyance. He glanced over to his twin's bed. Apparently, Kouji was still sleeping soundly, oblivious to the slight commotion that he had caused a bit earlier. He then noticed that Lobo was also awake and was sitting patiently and obediently on the rug staring at him.

"Can't you two wait until seven-thirty for breakfast? I'll feed you later!"

"That's not why we're trying to wake you up, young master," Lobo said seriously.

Kouichi looked up in surprised. "W-what?"

"My Prince, we have to warn you," Löwe, who was sitting next to him, spoke up, too. "You and Prince Jason are in terrible danger. We were sent here in order to protect you from the Dark Lord."

Kouichi was speechless. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Shaking his head, Kouichi tried to close his eyes as he muttered, "I'm dreaming. I'm dreaming! I'm still dreaming! This isn't real! After _that_, I'm still dreaming…"

"We don't have time for this, my Prince," Lobo cried. "Please, you have got to listen to us!"

"No! No! You're talking! My cat and my brother's dog are talking! You can't talk at all. I'm still dreaming!" Go away! Just be quiet and go away and let me wake up!"

"Kouichi-kun, please! You must listen to us. This is important!" Löwe persisted. He jumped into the boy's lap and tried to get him to open his eyes.

**"NO! STAY AWAY!"** Kouichi cried. He grabbed for his pillow and before Löwe knew it, his master swung it at him.

Löwe didn't realize that the boy had possessed such quick reflexes before. The so-called Guardian Knight of Darkness was flying across the room and would had hit the floor hard enough if he hadn't bounced on Lobo first. Again Löw was in the air, but a bit less than before. The next thing he knew, Löwe landed on Kouji's stomach, startling him awake.

**"W-WHAT?"** Kouji cried and he woke up with a start. He looked around the room and saw how his brother was staring at him with terrified eyes. It putted Kouji on the alert. "Nii-san what happened?" he asked.

Kouichi didn't answer him at first. Looking passed his brother; he saw Löwe getting up after Kouji knocked him off of his stomach and to the other side of his bed. Lowering his pillow, Kouichi pointed at Löwe with shaking hands.

"K-kouji…" he said, his voice trembling.

"What? What's wrong?" Kouji asked with concern.

"Am I'm still dreaming?"

"What? No! Kouichi, what's wrong? You've looked as if you've seen a ghost," Kouji replied. He got up from his bed and walked over to his brother's side of the room and sat down next to him. "What's gotten into you?"

"L-Löwe and L-Lobo…" Kouichi replied, his voice and hands still shaking. "O-our...p-p-pets..."

"What about them?"

"Kouji, I think I'm going crazy, because…" Kouichi gulped nervously, wondering what his brother will think of him next. "…because they just spoke to me…"

Kouji didn't say anything at first. His eyes were lit with concern as he studied his shaking brother. Kouichi seemed a bit pale. His hands were cold when Kouji grasped them in his own. His breathing was a bit heavy and his pulse was pacing a little bit faster. Remembering Kyochi's concern from the day before at the hospital, Kouji thought for a moment that perhaps that his brother was a bit ill. But he didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to believe that Kouichi was having some mental problems.

Taking in a deep breath at last, he said, "Nii-san, it's okay. I'm sure it was just a dream, that's all."

"I'm not crazy, Kouji…I'm not crazy…" Kouichi continued to mutter.

"I know you're not, so don't worry about it," Kouji assured him.

"No, he's not crazy, my Prince, but he did swung at me hard, though," Löwe spoke up from Kouji's bed.

Both twins jumped in surprise at the sound of his voice, their eyes wide opened with shock. They both exchanged looks of confusion as they looked back at their pet dog and cat. It was then that Lobo decided to speak up in order to calm them.

"Kouji, Kouichi, I know this seemed shocking to you, but please rest assure that you are not dreaming nor hallucinating as I am talking to you right now," Lobo said as calmly as he could.

The twins didn't answer at first as their shocking discovery subsided slowly. Kouji studied his dog's facial expression intently, trying to find any resemblance to a human at all. The only sign that he could find was in Lobo's eyes. Getting off his brother's bed, Kouji walked over to Lobo and knelt in front of him. "You…you really can talk?" Kouji asked cautiously. Lobo nodded. "H-how is that possible? You're a dog and you're a cat!" He glanced over at Löwe who went over and leaped into Kouichi's lap.

Kouichi yelped slightly but otherwise he didn't move nor did anything to knock his cat over the side again.

"We were once human, too," Löwe answered as gently as he could, trying his best not to startle his master again. "We were turned into Guardian Animals as the price for immortality in order to redeem ourselves as Knights and to stop a great evil."

Kouichi relaxed a bit as he asked hesitantly, "H-how did it happen? Why?"

"It's a long story, my prince," Lobo answered.

"What did you say?" Kouji asked.

"I said that it's a long story, my prince," Lobo repeated.

Kouji shook his head. "No, why do you call us that? Princes?"

"Because you two are the reincarnations of Prince Jason and James of the Old Kingdom of Lusteria," Löwe explained. "We were once Knights of your father's kingdom and had served you loyally during the Dark Ages."

"Reincarnation? But that's ridiculous! There's no such thing, it doesn't happen," Kouji commented, not a bit amused.

"So does a talking dog and a cat, right?"

"Lusteria…" Kouichi trailed off at the mention of that word. "That name sounded so familiar…as if…I've heard of it somewhere before…Kouji, do you think…?"

Kouji could see that there was something strange going on here. His brother seemed a bit different these last few days. Ever since they met that Oracle woman, their lives were getting more and more strange. Come to think of it, they did met Lobo and Löwe formally for the first time in that fortune-telling tent. Did that Oracle had something to do with it? Kouji had a feeling that somehow, she knew about it and is involved.

Kouji glanced at Lobo and he saw something in him. For a strange reason, he felt as though Lobo was like a lost friend to him. A lost friend…from a long and forgotten memory. Sighing, he thought, _This is crazy! None of this is happening, yet I know that we're not dreaming. Whatever is happening right now, I know that we're all involve one way or another. I've got to get these two talking and make them explain things._

Heaving a sigh, Kouji looked at Lobo and glanced at his brother and Löwe with such maturity and finally said, "All right, you two have our attentions. Explain yourselves from the beginning."

Lobo and Löwe exchanged looks of relief and bows as they formally introduced themselves.

"I am Sir Lobo the Silver Wolf of the Day," said Lobo. "Once I was a royal knight to the Old Kingdom of Lusteria known as the White Wolf Knight. I served His Royal Highness, Prince Jason, second heir to throne of Lusteria. Now I am here to serve and protect you as your Guardian Knight of Light, Kouji Minamoto, for you are Prince Jason's reincarnation."

"And I and Sir Löwe the Shadow Lion of the Night," said Löwe. "Once I, too, was a royal knight to the Old Kingdom of Lusteria known as the Dark Lion Knight. I served His Royal Highness, Prince James, first son and heir to the throne of Lusteria. No I, too, am here to serve and protect you as your Guardian Knight of Darkness, Kouichi Kimura, for you are Prince James' reincarnation."

Kouichi glanced at his brother sheepishly before Kouji whispered, "Nii-san, I think this is going to be a very long day."

Kouichi nodded in agreement as Lobo and Löwe began their story.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Kouji exclaimed moments after Lobo and Löwe finished their story. "You two think that we were these two princes of some kingdom that was on the brick of war?"

"And so my incarnation was betrothed to this Princess Marina from a far away land in order to unite our two nations together in order to survive?" Kouichi asked. "But because I'm the older one, then I had to suffer from the pressure of marriage and ruling as a future king?"

"Then some sort of 'Lord of Darkness' comes by and used us as scapegoats for his blood-thirsty rampage; ends up killing the princess, the queen, the servants, and villagers; and in the end, he succeeded by killing the last line of royal blood in order for him to live longer?" Kouji pondered, as he and his twin tried to understand that complexity of the story. "Wait, but then that story…" he began to trail off as he glanced at his brother.

"…sounds like the ghost story that Izumi told us during Obon!" Kouichi finished.

"Yes," Löwe explained, trying to conclude the story. "Because of the situation, King Pelius ordered his son, the Crown Prince, to wed a princess from a powerful neighboring country. But instead, she eloped with the younger prince, adding despair to James' pressure of becoming king. Dusk, the Dark Vampire Lord, used his twisted feelings to his advantages in order to achieve his goal. Dusk wanted to live forever, and so he manipulated James into killing his fiancée.

"Because of her murder, the two nations couldn't unite in order to fight for their existences. Eventually, the massacre became more and more widespread. We learned that Dusk wanted the blood of Prince Jason's in order for him to live longer. We tried to stop him but we were too late. Dusk lured him out into the darkness and killed both brothers and ending the last heirs to the crumbling nation."

"By the time we've reached them, Dusk had succeeded," Lobo shook his head is disappointment. "He had put a curse on those two, dooming them to their fates as his prey for ever centuries. Apparently, he wanted more and the prince's blood won't allow him to live as an immortal like Gali. So he forces them to reincarnate every hundred years or so in order for him to live longer. But Löwe and I wouldn't allow it. To break that bastard's wretched curse, we came to Gali for help. In order for us to gain immortality and to find you every time, she took our humanities as compensations.

"And so for the past centuries, we've searched far and wide for the princes' reincarnations. We've traced them as they were born as sons of famed noblemen, tribe chiefs, artisans, merchants, aristocrats, war generals, and now…" Lobo looked up at the twins and studied them deeply. "And now, we've tracked you down again in the twenty-first century…"

"As the sons of a financial business owner who's about to make it into the world of power and wealth," Löwe finished. "So you see, Dusk wanted the two of you to be born into a family of wealth and power in order for him to obtain power. But recently, the Oracle believed that he's searching for something more."

"And so she took his physical body away in order to weaken his plan," Lobo continued solemnly. "Without his real body, he is weaker and more vulnerable. Yet he is still dangerous in his form of a vampire shade. We believed that Dusk had planned to get to the two of you during the night of the Obon Festival. That is why we pretended to be your new pets in order to gain entrances into your lives before Dusk could strike again.

"We asked Gali, whom you've met at the festival, to set a protective barrier on your house, exiling any spiritual beings that meant any harm or ill intentions." Löwe got up and leaped on top of Lobo before they both continued with their story. "But unfortunately, it seems as though Dusk had managed to find a loophole and into the barrier! We were concern about your condition, Kouichi-kun."

"But I'm fine," Kouichi insisted.

"We have our reasons to suspect that you aren't, my prince," Löwe glanced at him. "You seemed can't recall what you were doing out on that night."

"I told you! I sleepwalked, that's all. There's nothing suspicious about that!"

"Was that your first time?" Lobo asked.

Kouichi didn't answer at first. He looked down at his hands, trying his best to avoid the others' gazes. At the same time, he tried to remember if he had ever had an incident like that before. For a moment, all was quiet in the room as the sun slowly makes its way over the horizon. The birds could be heard chirping and singing their morning songs in the tree outside of their window. Uncomfortable by his brother's silence, Kouji tried to speak but was cut short when Kouichi looked up at him.

"Yes, twice when I was little," Kouichi said firmly. "I'm sorry but it's just been a while since I last did it, alright? I'm fine. There's nothing wrong, really."

"Kouichi-s right, what were you two thinking?" Kouji demanded.

"Forgive us, but surely you must had encountered Dusk by now," Lobo answered.

"Well it seems as though you're both mistaken," Kouichi got up and went to the restroom. The door shut behind him and the sound of running water can be heard as the boy washed his face.

Lobo and Löwe turned their heads to Kouji who didn't seemed to be in the bit least amused. "Please, we believe that you're both in danger. If Dusk gets a hold on the both of you, you'll be doomed to live a cursed circle of short lives," they pestered.

"Frankly, I really don't believe most of what you're telling us at all," Kouji retorted in infuriation. "Your story sound too mythical to believe. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're some sort of talking animals working for Gali. She must have sent you to spy on us, hasn't she?"

"Please you don't understand," Löwe cried, "Yes, she sent us, but that's also because it is our duty to protect you."

"I don't need your protection or anyone else's!" Kouji snapped. "I personally don't believe a word of that silly story of yours. It's too much of a coincidence. Izumi told us that it was just a legend based on some historical genocide and war."

"Were the two of you spying on us at the restaurant during that night?" said a voice behind them.

Kouji, Lobo, and Löwe turned around to see Kouichi standing by the door. Apparently, he had finished washing and had heard enough said. Lobo and Löwe exchanged looks of guilt. They nodded. "We found you joining your friends in telling horror legends. We've heard the blond girl's story, too."

"Her name's Izumi Orimoto," Kouichi said. "I think Kouji's right. You two must have heard her story that night and decided to play along to get our attention."

"We're not lying, we speak truth!" Lobo and Löwe cried, glancing at Kouji, "You are the reincarnation of Prince Jason, King Pelius' youngest son," then they glanced at Kouichi, "and you are the reincarnation of Prince James, heir to the throne."

Kouji and Kouichi didn't know what to say. After all, they're listening to a talking cat and dog that both seemed to think that they were once royalty from distant past lives. A crumbling kingdom on the brick of war; two twin princes, one an heir and the other an adulterer; a curse forced upon by a blood-thirsty vampire by the name of Dusk who seems to have an interest of using the twins as scapegoat; a princess from a far-away kingdom who fell in love for the younger twin instead to her betrothed; and Gali as an immortal and powerful Oracle...it all seemed too crazy to believe.

At last, Kouji shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, but what you told us was the most absurd, surreal, and craziest thing that I had ever heard. I can't believe it at all. Not the both of us." He glanced at his brother who nodded in agreement.

"I don't understand how you two can talk, really," Kouichi admitted sheepishly. "But your story seemed unbelievable and how can you expect us to believe such things. I don't think you meant us any harm, although you did accuse me, but I'm sorry," he paused a bit and sighed. "I'm sorry, but we just don't believe you."

* * *

"What do we do now?" Löwe asked disappointedly.

"What do you mean?" Lobo questioned.

"You know what I mean, Lobo!" Löwe hissed. "They didn't believe us."

"I can't blame them for not," Lobo commented.

After the end of their discussion with the twins, Kousei and Satomi were already up and so they parted ways for now. While the twins went downstairs to eat with their parents, Lobo and Löwe remained upstairs in their bedroom. Before they left, Löwe assured his masters that he and Lobo wouldn't in anyway try to speak to their parents. Kouichi nodded while Kouji scoffed in anger. Lobo showed no signs that he cared, but deep down, Löwe could tell that his friend was hurt by the fact that Kouji was upset at them. Kouichi had shown a little bit of a kinder side, but still, they were both being punished. Punished for "deceiving" them and fantastic "telling lies". For their punishment, Lobo and Löwe were not to eat breakfast that morning. This was only a slight annoyance to their growling stomachs. But after centuries of living lives as wandering vagabonds, it was nothing compared to what Gali did.

"If Kouichi doesn't understand that he's being controlled by Dusk," Löwe explained, "he won't be able to expel that monster from his body while there's still a chance."

"And if Kouji doesn't understand, then he won't be able to prevent Dusk from achieving what he wants. Kouji won't be able to save and protect his twin. He won't be able to save himself." Lobo sulked. He was annoyed. Both of them were. After all, they were having a hard time trying to get their masters to understand the danger that they were all in. It was easier last time. It was easier the first time, but as centuries goes by, the thoughts of men are easily clouded by judgment. As the earth and her people passed through the centuries, curses and magic seemed less and less real. All but fiction. Nothing but science and logic these days.

"Now that we've exposed ourselves," Löwe spoke up. "Dusk will be on the alert for us and will do anything in order to prevent us from helping Kouichi expel him."

"Knowing that bastard, I say he's going to try to get the boy to keep to himself more and more away from us."

"Lobo, we can't give up, you know that," Löwe exclaimed, standing up to face his friend in the face. "Each centuries, our missions becomes harder and harder. But every time we failed, we all always closer to victory."

"You're right, my friend," Lobo nodded. "Each centuries and each missions, we are closer and closer in succeeding. We have to try harder this time. If we can do that, we can destroy that bastard for good…" Lobo began to trail off as he pondered through his thoughts. "No more chasing…no more curse…and no more will we be trapped…" He looked down at his friend and raised his right paw up and observed its features. "We can even become…human again…"

"Aye," Löwe nodded, "But we must succeed. We must prove to Kouji and Kouichi that we were not lying to them. We must protect them and understand what Dusk has in stores for all of us."

"Right," Lobo agreed. He then lay down on the carpet and rested his head on his paws and moaned. "How long do you think we'll be punished like this? I'm starving…"

"I don't know, Lobo," Löwe smiled, considering his empty stomach, too. "Perhaps until they are finish with breakfast and are packed and ready for Kousei's business trip?"

"How long will that be?"

"Until lunch perhaps?"

They both glanced at the clock on the bed stand again. Front their angle of position on the floor, they could read it as 8:07 a.m. The both groaned. They were all supposed to leave for Clairebourne Manor in two and a half hours.

"Lobo," Löwe said, glancing at his companion sheepishly. "I think this is going to be a long day…"

**Author's Notes:**

**This chapter was originally longer, but it got too long and so I had to cut it down into two. I'm sorry for the delay but I had exams to study for. I'm also sorry that Kimi, Kyochi's twin sister, hasn't made her debut yet. She was supposed to make her first appearance at the end of this chapter, but apparently seeing how long this fan fiction is, she'll come up in the next one. I promised.**

**Don't expect any fast updates, though. I still have the rest of the semester to study for, and I also have a few other projects on my mind that I need to get done as quickly as possible. Forgive my bad grammar. English isn't my first language.**

**Culture references:**

**Odaiba is a man-made island in Tokyo. It is the place by the sea and the famous Bay Bridge so it probably has some ports and fishing docks. It's also the home of the Digidestined from the first season of Digimon.**


	14. Dreams and an Old Promise

**I apologized for the long delay because I've hit major writer's block these past few months and the truth is, this chapter was really difficult to write. And also, I have other work and business to do first. This chapter was supposed to be longer, but again, it got too long so I had to cut it short...sorry. And also, pardon my grammars...because I'm not that good in English as it is my second language.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon Frontier or any of its characters.**

**Warning: Rated T for some bloody violence, a few minor languages, and minor sexual scenes **

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Thirteen: Dreams and an Old Promise**

"_Hey, guys. Looks like a little kitty just dropped by our own neighborhood!" said a rough, six-year-old boy. He sneered at a little girl in a blue dress as he waved his friends over to join him._

"_Is that so? You're right, Hiro-kun, there's a pweddy-widdle kitty right on our door steps. What's a girl like you doing here on our turf, huh?"_

_The boy named Hiro, was joined by two more of his friends roughly the same ages and built as he is. They stood with their baseball bats and muddy shirts and shorts from playing rough in the dirt. Apparently they had a fight with their opponent team because they lost the game. Losing to them even in a fist fight, these three boys moped as the rest of their team left them behind in the field._

_They were pissed, alright. And they were looking for anything or anyone that seemed smaller or weaker than they are to take their stresses out on. Unfortunately, a pretty little girl with dark hair and in a blue, frilly dress seemed lost and alone. Seeing how defenseless she looked, the Hiro and his friends decided to have some fun by bullying her._

"_Wow, would you look at that?" said one of Hiro's friends, mockingly. "This pweddy-widdle kitty seems like one of those rich brats. You know how much I hate those snobby little kids, huh? We teach them a lesson in respect, right?"_

"_Shut up, Kyo!" Hiro snapped. "But you're right, I hate rich little girls like you, princess." With his dirty palm, Hiro pushed the girl back, soiling her clean dress. The little girl fell on her bottom and landed on her side in the dirt. She coughed a bit and wiped the mud from her cheeks. She then got back on her feet and glared at the three older boys with murderous eyes._

"_You'll pay for that dearly!" she spat. "Wait until my brother hears about this, you're going to be in big trouble! By my family's name, I'm not afraid of you lumps. And if you don't want to suffer a horrible punishment, I expect you to apologize right now!"_

"_Ooooh, we're so scared!" The last boy cried sarcastically as he laughed at her._

"_See, Hiro? I told you she's one of those bratty little rich kids who think that they can do whatever they want!"_

"_Listen, princess," the boy, Hiro, sneered, "You're on our turf now, and unfortunately, you've caught us off on a bad day. And do you know what we do to kids like you on a bad day?" As he asked her this, Hiro raised both of his dirty hands and shoved her against one of his friends._

"_We beat them up!" Ryo exclaimed savagely, catching the girl as she stumbled back against him. Then with a heave, he shoved her against his third friend. "Catch Kaito!"_

_But the last boy, Kaito didn't. Instead of catching her, he took one step to the side and let her fall on her knees, spraining them. "Oops! Looks like I missed!"_

"_I'm not afraid of you!" The girl cried, jumping to her feet as she tried to tackle them on her own. But unfortunately, the three boys were a lot older and stronger than her. Together, they pushed her back down into the dirt. The girl gasped in shock. She breathed a bit heavier than before and then realized that there were tears in her eyes. Quickly, she tried to wipe them away, refusing to let those goons see her cry. Unfortunately for her, they already did._

"_Aww…looks like the poor liddle-widdle princess is gonna cry," said Kaito, laughing._

"_Shut up, you jerks!" The girl snapped. "You stay away from or my brother will—"_

"_Sorry, princess," Hiro, the leader commented victoriously. "But we've been at this for a while now and I think your brother's not here. No one is coming to help you, why? Because you're a stupid, rich, bossy, little princess who thinks that she can do anything she likes just like the rest of those losers on our team!"_

"_Really? Because to me, that's what you are right now!" said a new voice._

_The four of them turned around to see another boy about the girl's age standing by the side. He seemed to be dressed up in a martial art uniform with a wooden bouken sword in one hand over his shoulder. He, too, have raven-blue hair and dark blue eyes and from the girl's point of view, they looked annoyed._

_The other three boys, however, didn't seem to be in the least bit amused. "What did you called us, you little punk?" Hiro demanded._

"_You heard me, you lamebrain. You and your friends are the sore losers here, not me. Typical of cowards like you to take out your anger on a girl."_

"_Oh really? What are you gonna do about it, huh, pony-tail?" one of the boys sneered._

"_Leave her alone!" the kendo boy warned, pointing the end of his bouken sword at them._

_The three older boys laughed and said, "Oh yeah, and if we don't?"_

"_Like she said, you're going to pay dearly for it," the kendo boy replied. And then he charged._

_It took him awhile to win. These older boys were tougher than him, but he's smarter. Using what his kendo sensei told him, the boy uses his wits and his bouken sword to defeated Hiro and his goons with ease. But he only emerged victorious with the girl's help. Apparently, she was as tough and skilled in fighting as he was and it took them all by surprised._

_Dropping their bats and sticks, the boys ran, with only Hiro behind cursing at the two of them. "We'll get you next time, you hear me? We'll—OUCH!"_

_He didn't get to finish his threat as the girl threw a pebble and hit him squarely in the forehead with precise aiming. The force of the blow was small and deadly of enough to make Hiro stumbled back a few steps, rubbing his sore spot fiercely. Looking up at the pair of them, he swore and ran after his friends._

"_Nice shot." The boy who came to the girl's rescue commented._

"_Thanks, nice moves," the girl replied. "But I didn't need your help, though."_

"_Doesn't matter anyway, because you've got me involved. I can't stand by and let those creeps pick on you just because they lost a game of baseball. It's against my code."_

"_Your what?" she asked curiously._

"_My code of honor," he replied. "My sensei taught me about it from my kendo lessons."_

"_Oh, that's…very…um…kinda like what my gra-…nice moves, by the way…" she mumbled, changing the subject._

"_Thanks, yours not too shabby either. And that was really neat on those throwing and kicking. You're really good at this."_

_The girl blushed a bit at this. No one has ever complimented her on her own meager martial art skills. Except for her brother and grandfather, this boy is the only one who ever recognized her of her talents. Whoever this guy is, she's starting to like him already._

"_Thank you," she said, her cheeks flushed as she smiled at him. "For…rescuing me, that is!"_

"_You're welcome," said the boy cool and calmly. Holding onto his wooden sword, he bowed to her slightly. "I'm Kouji. Kouji Minamoto."_

"_A pleasure to fight with you, Kouji," said the girl. "I'm—"_

* * *

"Kouji, Kouichi…is there something the matter?" Satomi asked, noticing the boys' silence that morning during breakfast. Usually this wasn't unusual, but this morning, she can't help but noticed that her step-sons were being more secluded this morning.

"It's nothing, Satomi," Kouji replied, tonelessly.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah, there's nothing wrong," Kouji confirmed convincingly.

"We were just thinking, that's all," Kouichi added, reassuring her.

"Well, if you two are sure," Satomi smiled, handing each of them their buttered-toast. They both accepted their breakfast quietly as footsteps draw near. Satomi looked up to find her husband walking in. His hair was a bit damp and his glasses fogged. Kousei stumbled a bit at his poor eye-sight as he tried to clean his glasses with the hem of his dark, red tie. Apparently, Kousei wanted to shower beforehand as well as he wanted to dress properly in his best business suit as he walked into the kitchen to greet his family.

"_Ohayo_, everyone!" he said, putting on his de-fogged glasses.

"Morning, Dad," the twins replied in unison.

"Morning dear," Satomi said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "My, you're looking important today."

"Of course, dear. Today's an important day for all of us, after all."

"But we still have two more hours, Dad," Kouichi raised his head up curiously.

"It never hurts to be properly prepared before hand," Kousei remarked. "Not only do we have to be on our best, but we must also wear our best. So I would suggest that the two of you get dress in something more…" he gazed at his sons' casual apparels before continuing, "…something more formal."

"Remember you two, we're meeting with foreign noblemen," Satomi explained. "We have to show respect in manners and appearances."

Kouji didn't answer but he nodded slightly instead. Glaring into his glass of orange juice, he scowled slightly under his breath so that his parents wouldn't notice. Finishing up his breakfast, Kouji left the table without another word. Kouichi noticed his irritation and followed, excusing himself and his brother from the table.

"Kouji, what's bothering you?" the older of the two asked. They were midway up the stairs.

"I don't know, I guess I'm trying to handle all of this in my head, Nii-san," Kouji said, turning to face his brother. At this point, he revealed the concern and irritated expression to Kouichi that he had been hiding from their parents. "Everything seems so…crazy all of the sudden. There are so many things that don't seem ordinary and they are happening to us."

Kouichi nodded in an understanding gesture before he spoke. "You mean Dad's business party? I know it can seem a bit much, but we'll survive, right? Isn't that what we agreed on?"

"It's not just that, Kouichi," Kouji sighed, shaking his head. "There are other things that are bothering me and I can't help but ask why."

"Like what?"

"Like what that woman at the Obon festival—"

"Gali the Oracle?" Kouichi cut in, raising an eyebrow. If Kouji had paid a little more attention, he would have noticed a hint of hatred in Kouichi's tone of voice when he spoke her name. But it was so small that it simply passed by his ears.

"Yeah, her," Kouji answered as he continued. "What she told us during that night and yesterday strikes me as odd. I can't help but think of what she told me and it's been bothering me for a while now. She said that a bond between us and those guys from the festival; Masaki, Takashi, and Kyochi…has been created and we have to depend on it when the time comes? And the last thing that she said to me was "'Be careful when you meet _her _tomorrow. '" What the hell does that even mean? Am I going to run into someone dangerous today?"

"I don't know, but if you ask me, I think you should heed her words, Kouji," Kouichi replied then lowering his voice as his eyes began to fog. "She knows a lot of things."

"What? You're defending that Oracle woman? Don't tell me that you're buying all of this fortune-telling nonsense!"

"Gali knew that Ami's our classmate. How could she have known that from the news yesterday? She also knew that Kyochi-kun is a medical student who is working at the hospital and he's looking after Ami," Kouichi explained. "You don't think that it's all just coincidence, do you? Kouji, I think you're afraid…"

"Afraid? Of what?" Kouji asked. What Kouichi said surprised him a bit.

"You're afraid of accepting that Gali really is…a sorceress," Kouichi said calmly, yet also sternly.

Kouji didn't know what to say. Perhaps it was true. Kouji was never the one who believes in fairy tales, mythologies, magic, and super powers. All of those things were kids' stuff to him and they were too fictional for his taste. But as Kouichi pointed out the odds, he was starting to doubt that they were less and less…unreal. Could Gali really be magical and could she really be the causes of all of the events that had happened all around them since summer started…or is she just an observer from afar…watching silently and giving advices and warnings discreetly. And could she have known about the past, present, and future? What she said to him at her house yesterday worries Kouji a bit. And also…

Then something struck him. The house? Gali's house was where those two, Lobo and Löwe, ran off into yesterday. Could they be? And then suddenly…

Turning to face his brother, Kouji asked, "Nii-san, why did you hold back yesterday?"

"Excuse me?"

"Yesterday when we chased after those two, Lobo and Löwe, into Gali's front yard. Why didn't you want to go in?"

Kouichi didn't answer at first. Instead, he lowered his head as his eyes began to dim in thoughts. Why? Why didn't he go in yesterday? Kouichi had wondered about that, too. It's as if there's something in his head that's telling him that it's best not to approach and that the place is dangerous. Kouichi had sensed that. Gali's house has sent chills down his spine and for some reason, he felt as though the little, dark voice in his head was right. It was as though his conscious has warned him to never set foot in that cursed place.

"Kouichi? Didn't you hear me?" said Kouji.

Kouichi looked up to face his brother's stern blue eyes. Nonchalantly, Kouichi replied his brother's question with an answer. "I'm not sure. Her place just feels…ominous, that's all. I felt chills running down my spine."

"And that's why you don't want to go in?" his brother asked.

"Yes, it's nothing," said Kouichi. Pushing past his brother, he opened the door into their room where Lobo and Löwe awaited for them.

Kouji knew his brother well enough to know that he's been acting strangely and differently. Now, he noticed that Kouichi is changing more and more. Kouji knew his brother to be the sweet and quiet one. Sure, he can be clumsy at times like tripping over his shoes or dropping his books in the hallway and he always tries to cheer him and their friends with his laugh an sometimes, with his own genuine sarcastic teasing. Usually used when Takuya or Junpei when they make stupid or unreasonable remarks.

But ever since summer started, Kouichi had been acting a bit more cold and more stern and serious. Come to think of it, Kouji remembered that Kouichi didn't laugh or remarked against Takuya's joke much these past few days. Instead, he just kept quiet about it and didn't even bother to say anything in return. Could this be a sign of something dark and stirring? Or could it be that his brother is just experiencing something called a "teenage crisis"? The last was the most possible one.

Following his brother into their room, they got dressed in their best black suits. Their father had bought them a twin pair a year ago and back then, it was a bit too roomy for them. Now that they are a little bit older, their tuxedos fitted them like a glove. Kouji had never liked these suits much. He only wears them for funerals or when his father is taking his family out to a fancy restaurant for dinner. To him, they were sort of a nuisance.

"Are you worried?" asked Löwe curiously.

Kouji turned his head towards him in surprised as he asked, "Excused me?"

"I asked you if you're worried," Löwe repeated calmly.

"And why do you think that I'm worried?"

"Because I'm an animal, my Prince," Löwe laughed. "Lobo and I can sense these emotions at times."

Kouji didn't find it amusing of the sort as he listens to his brother's talking cat. The fact that these two are talking still puzzled him. Animals can't talk and yet these two can. It's unimaginable and it was something that Kouji couldn't understand. Yes, what Lobo and Löwe had told the two of them sounded too fictional, but then again, what happened in the Oracle's fortune-telling tent was also unreal. All of these things were happening and Kouji couldn't understand why and this only frustrated him even more to the point that even the sight and the sound of Lobo and Löwe were pushing him to the brick of anger.

"…and I apologized for the intrusion, but if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you've seemed a bit pale a second ago, Prince James. May I ask wha—" Löwe remarked as Kouichi observed himself in the mirror as he finished tying his bow.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?" Kouji bellowed viciously. His sudden outburst caused his brother and the two furry animals to jump in surprised. As a part of their animal instinct, Lobo went into a fighting stance while Löwe jumped off from where he had sat and pounced next to Lobo, readying himself in a similar fighting stance. It was more of an old reflex that they do when they are caught by surprised and would take it as a potential danger. When they saw that the "threat" was only Kouji, they lessened their gripped on the carpet and relaxed.

"Kouji, what's wrong?" Kouichi asked hesitantly, taking in air as he spoke. Apparently, he didn't realize that his brother's sudden outburst surprised him so that he held his breath in fear.

"I'm sick of all these things you're pulling on us," said Kouji, lowering his voice to a minimal. After that outburst, the four of them had expected Satomi at the door, curious to know what the matter was. But luckily for them, she was out in the garden and hadn't heard a thing. Knowing that they won't be disturbed, Kouji continued. "Why are you here?"

"Kouji?" Kouichi began but his brother ignored him.

"Why are you two here?" Kouji asked again.

Realizing what Kouji was getting at, Lobo and Löwe replied. "We are here to warn you, Prince Ja—"

"Warn us about what? Some demonic, blood-thirsty killer that you've claimed existed in our past lives and we're in danger again because of him? Please! Look at you! You two are a dog and a cat and you're both talking to us as if you're real humans."

"But we were, Your Highness."

"I'm not to be fooled with. What makes you think that you can just waltz into our lives and toy with us at your mistress' whims? Why should we believe in anything you say?"

"Because it's true!" Lobo growled. "Like you, I've had enough of your rash accusation!"

Kouji fell silent at his dog's stern and powerful voice. For a fleeting moment, Lobo's human-liked voice reminded Kouji of an old friend…a fighting master…long forgotten…He couldn't understand how or why, but hearing Lobo speaking like this, made Kouji yield.

"I understand why you two don't believe us and I can understand why all of these things that are happening to you seem fictional," Lobo slowly explained as he collected himself coolly, nodding his head towards Kouji. "Gali was right, when things seemed beyond your understanding, you disapproved of it instantly without a second though, Prince Jason. But you must learn to put your logic thinking aside for once and try to understand the whole situation from another person's point of view and value it."

"Lobo's right," Löwe agreed. "It's important that you mustn't be ethnocentric. There are things in this world that seems mystical, magical, and unbelievable, but what you see is the truth and that you must accept it. And yet, the eyes that you use to see are not truly enough."

"What do you mean?" Kouichi asked.

"We asked you to open your eyes to the truth and understand that danger. You two are young humans and like all humans, would shut your eyes to things which can't be explain," Löwe closed his eyes, as he tries to remember the Oracle's words long ago. "We you humans see something that you can't understand, it frightens you and in turn, you would destroy it before realizing the truth behind it and by then, it is too late."

When Löwe said that, the twins realized that they had heard those words before. Their mother, Tomoko, had explained the same thing to them once. Like their friend, Izumi, Tomoko loved old legends and folklores. She used to tell them the old and traditional ones with gods and demons and spirits in them. Ones that have a meaning in the story and lesson to learn from like most folklores told to children. One of them, she had explained why humans are such mysterious creatures. Tomoko had explained to her sons why humans can be so cruel in ancient times and even in the present.

"_When mystical things seemed mysterious and strange to them, humans would shut their eyes to truth, closing off what they dare not want to hear and see,"_ their mother had said long ago, _"they would then harbor prejudiced feelings against these things and would destroy them without a second thought, not knowing whether the things that they had destroys had really meant them any harm at all. The truth to the matter is that people are one of the most senseless and mysterious beings of them all."_

After that, she had asked the two of them to never shut their eyes to the truth. Their mother, solemn and still ill at the time, had her reasons why. "_Your father did that and well…you know the rest. But please, will you two promise me that you'll understand things before judging them rashly? If you can learn to put your fear aside and accept the truth behind the matter, you can become a better person."_

It was a promise made long ago, but it had etched in their minds. But after months passed, the carved words in their minds began to fade with time, but upon chance…or perhaps even destiny, Lobo and Löwe and made the twins rediscovered their promises to their ill mother's words.

Nodding, slowly, they relaxed and agreed silently to each other.

"Seeing the truth, is it?" Kouji asked in his usual cooled mood.

"Yes, open your eyes to the truth before it is too late," said Lobo and Löwe.

"You know, you're starting to sound like our mother," Kouji replied sarcastically.

Beside him, Kouichi smiled as he gestured to Lobo and Löwe. "Alright, sorry about earlier, you two. If what you're saying is true, then we'll listen and try to understand it this time."

Lobo and Löwe looked surprised at his words and Kouichi giggled. "It's nothing really. What you just said really reminded us what we had promised to do a long time ago…but until now, we just remembered it. So please, whatever you have to say, we'll listen this time."

Kouji nodded in agreement.

At his words and reassurances, Lobo and Löwe's eyes lighted up with a sense of victory. At least, whatever they had said had convinced the two princes to give them another chance and it was one where they can't let go this time.

"As you wish, Your Highness—" They bowed their heads respectably before they were cut off by Kouji.

"Under one condition," Kouji said, holding his hand up as the three of him stared at him curiously. "Stop calling us Prince James and Jason or any of those royal titles. Our names are Kouji and Kouichi."

"Right," Kouichi laughed. "You're making us feel old and it's weird when you call us that!"

**To be continued…**

**Author's note: I'm sorry that this chapter isn't very good as I'm quite busy with other projects. Because of major writer's blocks, vacation, families, friends, and other art projects, I'm sad to say that this fanfiction will be put on hold for now. But don't worry, I promised that I'll finish this story and I will. But not now, because there are other things going on. But I'll get the next chapter up and down when I have the time. So don't expect an fast updates soon.**

**Farewell…for now!**


	15. In the Realm of his Heart

**Author: I apologized for the long delay, but this chapter took a little bit longer than I had thought. Originally, Kyochi's sister was supposed to debuted in this chapter, but then this scene was too important to let go. Next chapter, I promised!But it won't be up for a while, so please bare to wait with me.**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Fourteen: In the Realm of his Heart**

After about half an hour of retelling the story again, Lobo and Löwe were able to shine a bit more light on the situation a bit than before. Kouji and Kouichi sat and listened to them patiently. The story was just like the one that Izumi had told them on the night before the Obon festival. The only difference this time, Lobo and Löwe were able to tell it with more important details. Details that weren't told by Izumi and Kouichi doubted that she had known about them when she researched on this particular tale.

* * *

Lobo and Löwe told about why the Princess of Atlantice, Marina, was to be betrothed to the crown prince of Lusteria, James. Such was the commands of the two Kings that nearly drove both the betrothed to sadness and despair. But instead, Princess Marina and Prince James were able to get along quite well at first, but that was all the princess had felt for him. She did not love James but she had loved Jason instead. Jason didn't take much liking to her at first because he had seen her as a threat for separating both him and his brother away from each. But slowly, he too, fell for her. Jason slowly saw Marina for what she really was; a kind hearted girl who had loved life and one who cared about her people. She wasn't the selfish and spoiled princess that he had thought she was. No, she was the jewel of her kingdom, and she had made them happy with her enchanted singing voice and her soft smile…like the sea…like her shining watery kingdom.

The thought of being sent away to a strange kingdom and to marry someone she doesn't know puts Marina at a certain point of fear. She had felt alone and afraid. She was afraid of her future. A future of uncertainty, a life that has already been decided for her, and a life that had been planned out and lived for her. But seeing Jason's face had droved those fears and uncertainties away. And so, throughout the many days since her arrival, she and the younger prince began to play a private game of courting. Endless days spent together with passions of the hearts and a growing love. Soon, their love and time together became a forbidden affair…one that began to nurture consequences.

As Jason and Marina spent more and more time together, James began to feel neglected. He felt as though he was the one who's been forgotten, the one who has been casted aside into a world of loneliness and despair. Slowly, that despair turns into anger, and that anger began to nurture bitterness and jealousy…and hatred. James began to hate his brother and the princess who was supposed to be _his _fiancé.

Darkness lurks in his heart, and evil thoughts poisoned his mind. Slowly, Jason began to desire things that people had never thought that he was capable of wishing. He began to desire revenge. He wanted revenge on his fiancé and he wanted her to suffer in fear. He wanted to punish her for making him suffer and see the weight of her crime for deceiving him and his trust. She was nothing more than a vile witch, capable of enthralling her preys with her sweet smile and her enchanting singing voice, soon to turn and strike them at the heart with her treachery. And his brother, he wanted his brother to suffer and admit the crimes and the betrayal he had committed against his own brother.

No sooner had he met Dusk, a wandering stranger, who began to see the prince as a tool. Dusk began to use James and tricked him into becoming his puppet. Dusk clouded his heart and convinced him to commit a series of horrible crimes. One by one, blood was spilt at James' hands. He had murdered his fiancé out of rage and anger. He had killed his mother, the Queen, because she was in the way. And he had assassinated countless servants and villagers to satisfy the taste for blood on Dusk's behalf. And finally, he lured his own brother to the graveyard, and stabbed him. Yet, throughout his entire struggle, Jason was able to shine the light into his brother's heart, breaking him from Dusk's control. But alas, it was too late.

James had committed a series of bloody murders on his family, friends, and his people. A series of bloody nightmares that soon began a horrible curse on his souls forever even after death. Dusk had wanted blood because he craved immortality. All and all, he plotted out his murderous plans carefully, and used James' weakness and the darkness in his heart to his advantages. What he needed was to drink the royal blood of a noble prince to achieve his goal.

And so, Dusk used James to slay his brother, and by drinking his blood, he had achieved immortality. But the Oracle wasn't about to let him get away so easily. She had anticipated Dusk's plan and plotted her own. As punishment for his crimes, she split Dusk's spirit from his body and prevented him from getting his wish granted.

Lobo and Löwe weren't able to save the two princes and had begged Gali for her help. Knowing what she had to do, Gali agreed.

_"What Dusk had made Prince James done and what I did had sealed all of their fates. Dusk had wished for power and immortality," Gali had told them. "Without his body, Dusk isn't completely immortal. He'll have to live a cursed life as a wandering spirit. When he drank Jason's blood, he wasn't able to find the second half of his wish. For power, Dusk desire the Galis Star. Originally, it belonged to the water nymphs of the Kingdom of Atlantice and it was said that it was bestowed on their chosen princess, Marina. Dusk had thought that Marina had given her heart to Jason out of love, and with it, the Galis Star. Dusk had thought that by drinking Jason's royal blood and devouring his noble heart, he would acquire both long-lasting life and the power to rule over Darkness. But thankfully, Marina didn't give Jason the Galis Star and without it, I was able to separate Dusk's spirit from his body and banish it to a realm that's out of his reach without the key._

_"To atone for their mistakes, the princes will be reincarnated over and over again under new names and new lives. And when the time has come, they will encounter the same terrible fate that they had tried to avoid before. Dusk will search for them and will once again use them as his scapegoats to spill blood. He must continue to feed on human blood in order to stay alive, even as a wispy spirit of Darkness. He will find a host in one of the brothers and used him as his vessel. Dusk will try to search for his body and the Galis Star._

_"Again and again the cycle of death will repeat, and again and again blood will be spilt to no ends because Dusk will stop at nothing to get his hands on those two. As long as his will lives, he will hunt them down every centuries and make them suffer the same fate and miseries that they had once lived before."_

_"How can we stop this curse that has befallen upon the princes?" Löwe had asked. "Please there must be a way for us to free them."_

_"You cannot free them. Only they can free themselves," Gali explained._

_"Please, there must be a way that we can help them, Lady Gali!" Löwe begged._

_"If you want to help them put an end to Dusk's curse, you will have to surrender your humanities. You will have to give up your dreams of love and a family in order to chase down the princes' reincarnated lives throughout the centuries. Do you really want to give up such dreams?" Gali warned._

_"We will do whatever it takes to do what we should have done before," Lobo replied with such determination and fierceness in his voice and in his heart._

_"Very well, I will grant your wishes and tell you how to help them," Gali said. "Every century, James and Jason's lives will be reincarnated. When the time comes, they will encounter Dusk again. His persistence will drive his lost soul to hunt them down. As I said before, Dusk will used one of them as his vessel and will act as a parasite. A parasite that can control the thoughts and feelings of his host. He will force his host to drink blood from innocent victims with darkness in their hearts for they are the ones who will make him stronger and help him regain his strength and power. With every blood split, he will get close to his goal. Dusk will continue his endless search for the Galis Star, leaving a trail of bloody nightmares._

_"You two will act as the boys' guardians and you must protect them from Dusk. If Dusk had already managed to control one of them, then you must try to make him realize that there is an intruder within his mind and soul. Only the boy himself can banish the dark spirit from his body at his own will power."_

_"Then, will they be free of his persistent soul?"_

_"Only if the boy refused to be enthralled by Dusk's darkness. If he is able to be free of the vampire's control before the full lunar eclipse of the century, then the curse will end."_

_And with that, Gali summoned her magic circle beneath their feet. Glowing with glistening spheres, she casted a spell on the two Knights. Soon, Lobo and Löwe's limbs shrank and fur began to grow on their hides. Their face deformed and shaped itself into that of a dog and a cat. Then, with another wave of her hand, Gali folded a dimensional pocket out of thin air. On the other side, there lies another village in another century. "There, you will begin your search for the princes' next reincarnations. Warn them of the danger if you wish, but remember, Dusk is always a step ahead. If you can't get the boys to free themselves from Dusk's control before the lunar eclipse, then you must help the boys find a way to destroy his dark spirit. Do not let Dusk find his body nor let him get his hands on the Galis Star before the eclipse. If you fail, the there will be deadly consequences for us all. And if that happens, nothing, not even I, can do anything to stop Dusk if he succeeds."_

_Lobo and Löwe nodded. Facing the glowing opening in the air, they jumped through the fold in time and space and began their first chase. As soon as both of their tails passed the fold, it closed on its own behind them, leaving Gali alone with the corpses of the two princes at her feet. Apparently, Lobo and Löwe had carried them to her house after discovering them drained of their blood and cold at the graveyard._

_With another wave of her hand, Gali summoned a spell that she knew too well. Slowly and peacefully, the bodies of the two princes faded away into star dust. Their spirits had suffered enough and Gali knew that they had deserved something better, even after death. She opened another fold out of thin air. The star dusted spirits hovered hesitantly, unsure of what to do. Gali gestured them into the fold and explained that beyond it, is the World of Dreams. After such a horrible fate, she had granted them access into a world where they will reside and wait until they can be free from Dusk's curse. Until then, they will wait patiently in the World of Dreams. Quietly, the princes' star dusted spirits entered the fold where they, too, will join Marina's spirit. Marina, too, had died weeks before they did, and Gali, too, had given her a place to stay and wait peacefully in the World of Dreams._

_Closing the fold, Gali sat back and stared up at the crimson red moon above her head. It was slowly fading into its original color of silver, and soon the lunar eclipse will be over. Gali sighed as she spoke._

"_A misty moonlit night washes over the land, and although darkness ebbed with the glow of the full moon, shadows still remain. They conceal in evil which lurks just beyond our grasp. Sides are chosen, lines are drawn, ones that we dare not cross, but in the distance, a ray of light shines to expose our path. It is then that we learned that some things in life are better left unseen."_

* * *

"So you're saying…that there's someone inside of me?" Kouichi gasped, his eyes wide in fear as he touched his own chest with his hand, indicating where Dusk might be lurking.

At the mention of this, Kouji jumped up from his seat as a protective reflex.

"What do you mean?" he demanded at Lobo and Löwe in such a voice that would make others shuddered in fear. But Löwe and Lobo were too used to Kouji's incarnations' attitudes to be intimidated. "Are you saying that there's someone controlling my brother?"

Löwe nodded solemnly. "Yes. But please, do not worry—"

"Worry? Why shouldn't I be?" Kouji snapped. "You're claiming that some shadow of a person is lurking inside of my brother like a parasite and you expect me to not worry?"

"I understand your concern, Kouji, but please remain calm. Remember, your parents mustn't know that you can talk to us and they can't find out about the situation that we're in."

"Yes, although the matter may seem unsettling and grim, there's still a way for us to help you, Kouichi-kun," Löwe nodded his head at Kouichi, trying to reassure the shocked boy who sank on his bed. "We need you to trust in us, Kouichi-kun. We can help you be free from Dusk's control, but only if you will cooperate."

Kouichi seemed reluctant and nervous at first because he was afraid and confused by all of the things that had happened to him. Remembering the unfortunate fate of Ami and how he had acted in front of Gali's house, he began to realize more and more that what Lobo and Löwe had told him and Kouji were true.

"_Are you feeling alright? You seem kind of different today, that's all," _Kyochi's voice began to echo through his brain. _It seems as though you've been kind of distant today than usual…"_

Distant…angry…frustrations…

All of these thoughts and mixed emotions were making his head spinning. If his head wasn't doing so, then he would have heard a distant laughter inside of him. "NO!" Kouichi cried, clutching the side of his head as the pain drummed in his head on and on.

"Nii-san!" Kouji cried. Instantly, he ran to his brother's side, kneeling over while trying to find the problem to Kouichi's headache. "Nii-san, what's wrong," he asked in a panic.

"Voices…" Kouichi whimpered, still shaking as slowing, all of the pain and miseries that he had caused flooded in. "Voices…I…I did it…"

"What? What are you talking about, Kouichi?" Kouji asked.

"Voices…I can hear their voices, Kouji! They're crying out for mercy…_my _mercy…but I kept laughing at them...and then I—I killed them! Oh God, Kouji, I killed them! It was me all along! I killed those people…even Ami…"

"No, that's not true! Ami's not dead and it wasn't your fault, Nii-san. You've got to snap out of it!" Kouji cried, shaking his brother forcefully by the shoulders.

"Kouji's right, it's not your fault!" Löwe cried urgently.

"Listen to us, Kouichi, what you did was not by that of your own free will. You're nothing more than a puppet to Dusk. But you can banish him, Kouichi," said Lobo.

"B-but…the voices…the things that I've done…" Kouichi whispered under his breath not so low that the others can't hear. "I can hear them in my head…I can see them…and they just won't stop."

"Nothing more than a series of bloody nightmares that haunted you, Kouichi," said Löwe in a hushing tone. "And like nightmares, they're not real."

"But Kouji…Kouichi," Löwe asked, nodding his head to both of the boys. "What is it that you two want right now?"

It was a straight question that seems as though it doesn't have much to do with their problems. Kouji glared while his brother seems sorrowful. "What do you mean?" Kouji asked.

"You're feeling uncontrollable rage, fear, desperation, and helplessness while Dusk is trying to maintain a hold on you, Kouichi," Lobo replied. "We're asking you, what do you two want to do about it?"

"I—I want…"Kouichi whispered hesitantly. "I want to be free…I don't want to hear their voices anymore! I don't want to hear _him _laughing at me anymore. I want to say that I'm sorry to Ami when she wakes up…I want to be who I was before…"

"Nii-san…"Kouji said, worried.

"Then stop listening to your head and listen to your heart, Kouichi. _You _have to be the one to free yourself from this bloody nightmare."

"How? I don't know how!" Kouichi cried.

"Clear your mind and listen to the voice both in your heart and in your mind," Löwe instructed patiently. Lobo could tell that his friend was trying his best to stay calm, but deep down, they both knew that this is a crucial point in help their Prince banish the evil Darkness in his heart, and knowing the hard part is about to come, they're both anxious with the tip of their furs standing on ends. "There's darkness inside of you, but even in darkness, their lies another darkness. Dusk is lurking in there, but he can't stay. Do what you must to drive him out, Kouichi. You have to will power to do so."

Kouichi still seems unsure at first as he was afraid. But then Kouji helped him up and they both sat on his bed, clasping his brother's hands in his as he whispered, "Don't worry, Nii-san. I'm here, and I'll help you, too."

Seeing the firm, determined, yet kindness in his brother's eyes and the encouraging sparkles in Lobo's and Löwe's eyes, Kouichi felt more determined. Yes, he would try. He would have to…for his own sake and for those around him.

* * *

Closing his eyes, Kouichi tried to ignore the soft, continuous whispering voices of despair and fear in his mind. As Löwe instructed, Kouichi closes them off, pushing those thoughts of sadness and despair away. Mixed feelings of anger, jealousy, hatred, doubt, and uncaring drifted into him next. Again, he pushes them away. At first, they refused to leave, but Kouichi tried to remind himself that he doesn't harbor those feelings in his heart. No, he wasn't jealous of anyone. Not his brother, nor his friends. He doesn't hate anyone, not even his father even after the things that he had done to him and his mother. He has no doubt about his relationships with those who are close to him. No, Kouichi loved them because everyone that he knows well is important to him.

As he tries to remind himself of what he really feels toward the people around him, the negative feelings that were lingering in his heart began to evaporate. Breathing steadily and softly, Kouichi looked deeper into his heart. The sound of his beating heart sooths him a bit as he slowly encounters the soft, innocent shades of darkness in his heart. But Kouichi didn't feel frighten by them. This kind of darkness doesn't feel threatening at all. It was just the kind that's gentle and kind like him, but all strong and powerful in its own right.

Slowly and surely, Kouichi continues to venture deeper into his heart. As he tries to go in deeper, he felt a pang. It was as though he had collided against a brick wall…no…it wasn't a wall…but a person. Concentrating, Kouichi could see a vague figure in black smoke but with piercing, red eyes as cold as the night. The eyes glared down at him, chilling Kouichi to the bone. It appears that he has found Dusk, the vampire that Lobo and Löwe had warned him about.

* * *

Kouichi gasped softly, putting Kouji on the alert as he tightened the grip on his brother's hand.

"Nii-san?" Kouji asked with concern.

"I-I'm fine, Kouji," Kouichi replied. "I…I think I found him…Dusk…"

Lobo and Löwe leaned in, tensed through their tails and limbs. "Don't lose sight of him, Kouichi. Go back and face him. He'll try and intimidate you, but you can't show him your fear."

Trying his best to breathe steadily, Kouichi tries to go back to where he had encountered Dusk moments before, despite his nervousness and his racing heart.

* * *

But the second time Kouichi tries to look deep into the darkness within the darkness of his heart, he found himself in a dark, and bare room. It had neither doors nor windows nor any furniture and rugs save for a thick, leathered book lying on top of a wooden table. Kouichi slowly approach the table, fearing that Dusk might jump out any moment to hurt him or worse. But to his relief, Dusk hasn't…so far…

Picking up the book, Kouichi read the title on its cover…_The Sad Ending of Kouichi Kimura_ was what on its cover. "Is this some kind of joke?" Kouichi questioned. Without a second thought, he opened the book to the middle of the story. On its pages, he found Medieval style illustrations and letterings like that of old Bibles from the Middle Age of Europe, painted beautifully in colors and design. But Kouichi had no time to marvel at its beauty as he saw a frightening illustration of the man intruding inside of him.

"_Here you are at last, Kouichi. I was getting pretty bored here, you know," _said the illustration of Dusk. "So, have you decided to give in to my power, boy?"

"_How did you get here?"_ Kouichi gasped, dropping the book to the floor.

"_Hey! Be gentle now!"_ the book snapped, landing on the ground harshly. Then with a puff of wispy black fogs, the misty figure of a man evaporated from the ink of the book and hovered before his eyes. _"I'm tired of being mistreated by your reincarnations, boy!"_

"_D-Dusk! The Vampire of the Red Moon!"_ Kouichi cried, taking a few step back from the parasite. "_Th—this is another nightmare of yours, isn't it?"_

"_For being the worst prince of Lusteria, you're pretty sharp,"_ Dusk laughed. _"You know, I'm just here because you welcomed me. What kind of rude guest would you be by kicking me out like that? You know, I just want to thank you for being a wonderful and cooperating host. Without you, I would never have lasted this long without a fight. Not even that damn witch who dares to call herself the Oracle, can stop me now."_

"_You…you know Gali?"_ Kouichi asked.

"_Of course I know that witch! She was the one who took away my chance of everlasting glory! And if you think that you can beg for her help in getting rid of me, you're sadly mistaken!"_ Dusk spat viciously, grabbing Kouichi by his shirt and lifting him from the floor. _"She knows what the rules say…no one can force me out! No one! Not Gali, nor those two annoying imbeciles that pretends to be your pets!"_

"_Aaah! Let go!"_ Kouichi cried, clinging desperately to Dusk's vapor-liked arms, trying to free himself from his menacing grip. But Dusk only laughed at his pathetic struggle.

"_Ha, ha, ha! Look at yourself, boy!"_ Dusk mocked savagely. "_You're through! Are you ready to see me triumph?" _

With a sudden jolt, Dusk threw Kouichi's spiritual form to the other side of the room with such force that it would have broken his bones if Kouichi were there in his real form.

* * *

Unfortunately for him, while his spiritual form is being manhandled roughly in his heart, the same action has a similar effects on his real, physical body. Without a warning, Kouichi's earthly body was knocked off from his bed and onto the floor.

"Kouichi!" Kouji cried. "Nii-san! Wake up!"

"No, don't move him, Kouji!" Lobo warned.

"But he's hurting!"

"I know, but Kouichi has to fight against Dusk alone, we can't interfere! That's the rule!"

"Nii-san…" Kouji held his brother closed to him, cursing himself for not being able to help his brother at all. "Nii-san…you have to fight…you have to come back…"

If Kouji had listened closely, he would have heard his brother mumbled in slight pain under his breath.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the realm of his own heart, Kouichi struggled to get up as dusk continues to laugh and mocked him for his weak and pathetic existence.

"_Give it up, boy,"_ Dusk said with a smirk. _"You're not powerful enough to make me leave."_

"_You're…you're one to talk!"_ Kouichi gasped, getting to his feet, his strong will more determined by the soft and warm reassurance of his brother's distant touch. Kouichi clenched his fists as he stood up against Dusk. _"No! The truth is you're afraid that you'll fail! That you won't manage, right? Otherwise, why would you continue to drill those dark thoughts and feelings into my heart?"_

"_H-how dare you!"_ Dusk roared. _"How dare you speak to me like that, you little whelp! You're about to be sorry!"_

**"_NO! YOU'RE HISTORY!"_** Kouichi shouted, glaring at Dusk with strong and determined eyes and courage that he thought only his brother possessed. **_"HAVEN'T YOU FIGURED IT OUT YET? YOU'RE NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO KEEP ME CHAINED BY YOUR OWN FREE WILL! GET OUT! YOU'RE NOT WELCOME HERE!"_**

Kouichi raised a hand up, and suddenly, an orb of dark energy materialized in the center of his hand. With all of his might, he threw it against Dusk, who had barely enough time to react, fell victim to the might of his host's free will power.

**"_AGH! BLAST YOU!"_** Dusk cried, and then he was no more…

Gone…Dusk, the one who had made him dark and cruel towards his friends and those around him…is finally gone…nothing…there's nothing left in the realm of his own heart but Kouichi alone. He had done it! He had found the courage to face his fear and drove him away. But all of that dark energy that he had somehow created had drained Kouichi of his strength, spiritually and physically…

* * *

"Kouichi? Nii-san? Nii-san! Wake up!"

"K-Kouji?" Kouichi had heard a familiar voice in the distant, but for the time being, he couldn't grasp the feeling of who it had belong to. All he wanted to do now was sleep…

"Kouichi! Wake up!" Kouji cried again, shaking his brother harder.

Kouichi woke up slowly, only to find his brother's face and the two furry friends leaning over him. They all seemed worried and yet relieved.

"Nii-san! You're okay!" Kouji cried, hugging him in his tight embrace. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, you hear me?"

"Kouichi?" Löwe asked, nudging his nose against his master's face like an affectionate cat. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired…but okay, I guess," Kouichi replied, still out of breath. "I stood up against Dusk…"

"And you've succeeded by the looks of it," Lobo said, nodding in confirmation.

"Yeah, I guess I did," Kouichi smiled weakly. "I…I don't feel hatred anymore…nor any of those thoughts and feelings that he's been trying to feed me."

"Then that's surely a good sign that Dusk is gone!"

"Kouichi, can you sit up?" Kouji asked, trying to help support his brother.

"I…I think so…Kouji?" Kouichi asked.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I think Kyochi was right…I feel…different…"

"What do you mean?"

"I feel…just like I was before…Kyochi was right…I was a different person when Dusk overshadowed me…but now…now I feel just like I was before." Kouichi laughed as he hugged his brother with great relief. "I'm so glad!"

"I'm glad, too, Nii-san…" Kouji replied by return him with his own hug.

"It's over then?" Kouichi asked, his head turning to face Lobo and Löwe. "Is it over? I'm free now, am I? We're all safe from his hands, aren't we?"

Lobo and Löwe gave each other looks of concern as they choose their words carefully before replying. "Not yet, I'm afraid," Löwe answered.

"What do you mean by that?" Kouji demanded.

"It's over for the time being," said Löwe. "Yes, Kouichi has successfully banished Dusk from his heart now, but he still hasn't destroyed his spirit completely."

"Then…that means…"Kouichi whispered in fear.

"Yes, Kouichi…I'm afraid Dusk is still out there…watching," Lobo confirmed solemnly.

**Cultural notes: The talk between Kouichi and Dusk in the realm of his heart is inspired by Will's encounter with Nerissa in her nightmare in the Italian comic series, W.I.T.C.H.**


	16. Lost at Clairebourne Manor

**I apologized for the long wait, but I had college and other projects to do. Plus, I'm a little bit sick. But finally, here's the 15th chapter of my **_**Bloody Nightmares**_**. Enjoy and please leave a review for feedback.**

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Fifteen: Lost at Clairebourne Manor**

"Kouichi? What happened to you?" Satomi cried as soon as she stepped into the boys' room. She had come upstairs to tell her step-sons that their ride was coming. As soon as she saw Kouichi sitting on the floor, she got worried. "Kouichi, are you okay?"

"I'm fine…I…I just got a headache, that's all," Kouichi tried to reassure her. Getting up from the floor, he went to his bed and sat on it instead. Trying to convince her, Kouichi rubbed his forehead to indicate that he does have a headache.

"Are you sure you're feeling well, dear?" Satomi asked in concern.

"What's the all the business up here?" Kousei asked. He had just gotten off the phone with the person who was supposed to pick them up. As he entered, Kousei noticed that his wife was on her knees facing Kouichi as she brushed one side of his hair away, her face in concern.

She looked up at him and said, "Kouichi's not feeling well, dear. Perhaps, he should stay home just in case."

Kousei stared at her in shock. "But we have to be there because my associate required all of our presences. Satomi, are you sure that Kouichi's really sick?"

"Dad, if Nii-san's not feeling well," Kouji remarked. He was bit irritated that his father would put business above his brother's health condition, "then I think that it's best that we stay home while you and Satomi can—"

"No, it's nothing, Dad!" Kouichi cut his brother in before he could continue. "It's just a slight headache, that's all. I can still go with you."

"Are you sure, dear?" Satomi asked, still a bit concerned. "You looked a bit shocked, as though you've seen a ghost or a vampire."

_Or faced against one, _Lobo and Löwe thought quietly.

"I'm fine, really!" Kouichi said, sitting up straight. "It was just a passing headache that's all. Really, I'm fine. I can go with you and Dad."

"Well, if you say so," Satomi smiled. She got up and brushed off her woolen skirt, straightening it out. "But just in case, I'm giving you a pill, just in case. Kousei, could you be a dear and get my coat? It's on the coat hanger downstairs."

After his wife left, Kousei, walked over to Kouichi and placed the palm of his hand over his son's forehead, checking his temperature.

"You don't seem to have a fever, although you are sweating. Are you sure that you're okay, son?"

"I'm fine, Dad," Kouichi laughed, trying to convince him. "How many times do I have to say it to convince you?"

"Alright, alright, I believe you," Kousei laughed. Ruffling Kouichi's hair, he turned to address his younger son. "Kouji, why don't you open the window in here. It's getting stuffy! No wonder you're brother's getting dizzy. Go on, let some fresh air in!"

As he was about to turn and leave, he noticed Lobo and Löwe sitting quietly on the sideline. "Can you two behave while we're guests at the Clairebournes'?"

Lobo and Löwe barked and meowed as sweetly as they could. In addition into trying to convince him that they would behave, they sat where they are and wagged their tails to and fro.

"Don't worry about them, Dad, we already tested out and found that they'll do whatever we told them to so you won't have to worry about them while we're at your business meeting."

"Very well, I'll leave them to you. I'm going to go downstairs and get Satomi's coat. Kouichi, after Satomi gives you the pain-reliever, I want you and your brother and your pets downstairs immediately. Am I clear?"

"_Hai, Otou-san! _We'll be down in ten minutes," Kouichi replied.

Kousei smiled and ruffled both of his sons' hair before he left. As soon as the door closes, Kouji scowled in irritation but said nothing as he went over to the window and opened it slightly.

"Are you nervous?" Löwe asked.

"What?" Kouji turned around to face him.

"Are you nervous?" Löwe repeated, his voice kept low, so that both of their parents can't hear him speak.

"About what?" Kouji questioned him, his arms folded.

"Are you nervous about going with your father for his business deal, was what he meant," Lobo explained. He tilted his head to the side before he continued. "You seemed a bit tense, and don't bother denying it because I can tell."

"Why would you think that I would be nervous?" Kouji asked, rolling his eyes.

"Remember what she said last? "'Be careful when you meet _her_ tomorrow.'" was what Gali said to you yesterday, wasn't it, Kouji?"

"How did you know—oh right," Kouichi asked abruptly, but then stopped himself as he remembered. "You two were there, too."

Kouji seemed a bit taken aback when Lobo reminded him of what that Oracle had told him yesterday. "I'm not nervous, you guys," he said. "I'm just…curious that's all. Do you think that I should be?"

"Not really, do you remember what she sounded like when you gave you that warning?" Löwe asked.

Kouji lowered his head and he tried to remember their encounter yesterday at the Oracle's house. "She didn't sound too serious or graved," Kouji replied as the memories slowly flushed in. "She sounded a bit mischievous and she smiled a bit, I believe."

"Well then, you'll have nothing to worry about, since it's not that serious," Lobo said as he smiled with confirmation. "If Gali didn't sound somber or there is no seriousness in her tone, then her warning doesn't involve anything that's to come life-threatening."

"Are you sure?" Kouichi asked, curious.

"We've known her for the past few centuries, Kouichi-kun. She is the Oracle after all. Have she been wrong to you before?"

"Now that I think about, not really…" Kouichi replied as he remembered her warnings and predictions about them becoming true recently.

Before Löwe could speak, his cat ears perked up as does Lobo's dog ears. They heard the sound of footsteps approaching fast and so decided to remain quiet. No sooner than later, Satomi came in with a glass of water in one hand and a pill for headache in the other.

"There," she smiled, handing the water and medicine to Kouichi. "Drink up, dear. Here, let me straighten that up for you." After Kouichi gulped down the small pill and the water, Satomi bent over and began to straighten his tie and coat. Turning to Kouji, she began to attack his hair, leaving Kouichi struggling to hold his laughter as his brother complained about her fretting like a mother hen.

"Satomi, it is fine!" Kouji cried, brushing her hands aside.

"Oh stop, Kouji. It'll just take a few seconds," Satomi warned. "There!"

Suddenly, Löwe meowed at the window, forcing Satomi to look up. "And there's our ride. C'mon, you two. Your father's waiting for us downstairs!"

"Satomi! Kouji! Kouichi!" a voice from downstairs rose up from to the second level and into their room. "The chauffeur's here with our ride. We have to appear as punctual as we can!"

"Well you heard him. Now you and your pets march downstairs and no frowning, Kouji!"

And with that, they rushed downstairs to meet their father and their chauffeur, who apparently, was ordered to take them in a limousine to Clairebourne Manor, as ordered from Lord Clairebourne himself. Their chauffeur was pretty young for his age. Perhaps about in his early twenty's. Kouichi can only guessed that he's working part-time or so as an employee. The chauffeur bowed elegantly and respectably to his employer's guests as he opened the door for all of them to climb in. At first, he raised an eyebrow as Lobo and Löwe jumped in before the twins, but he made no comment as he closed the door behind them.

As the slick, black vehicle rolled out of the Minamoto's street, it passed through Shibuya and was heading straight for the edge of the city. There, a large and elegant manor fit for royalties sat on top of a hill, surrounded by fields of flowers and trees.

As Kouji and Kouichi stared out into the window, watching the trees passing by, they can't help but thought that the road that their chauffeur is taking them is a road of uncertainty, and yet, the future doesn't seems to scare them at all.

* * *

"Ah, welcome to Clairebourne Manor, Minamoto-san, our most honored guest today." When all four of them including Lobo and Löwe arrived at the main iron gate of the estate, they were greeted by a well dressed elderly butler. Kouichi could guess that the man is in his early seventies considering the lines on his faces and the wrinkles, white hair, and a pair of glasses. The man wasn't Japanese, but appears to be British. Kouichi was a bit surprised that the man could speak perfect Japanese. But then again, it's not that surprising since one of his friends, Izumi Orimoto is Italian Japanese. The butler was dressed in a black suit with a matching bow-tie like any other servants in the house, but his is a bit more formal to indicate that the man is a personal butler to a certain Clairebourne. The butler bowed as he invited them in warmly passing the iron wrought gate.

"Please, allow me to introduce myself properly," said the butler. "My name is Harrison Williams and I've had the privilege of serving as a personal butler to the Clairebourne since the previous generation. I hope I can be of service to you."

"Please to meet you, Williams-san," Kousei replied. "I'm Kousei Minamoto, as you know. And this is my family."

"Delighted," Harrison replied. Turning around he motioned Kousei and his family to follow him. Passing the gate, they came upon a paved path on a lush, green grass with flowerbeds of all colors planted elegantly around trees and trimmed hedges. The front garden and the mansion itself is design in a perfect symmetrical form. Both the left and right side mirrored perfectly, down to the last two fountains.

"What a magnificent mansion!" Satomi praised. "So this belongs to the Head of the Clairebourne noble family?"

"Yes, although he mostly spends his time elsewhere on business and such," Harrison explained. "But his wife and children are mostly around. The Lady is a still a bit ill, but ever since the young Master came, she has been feeling much better."

"So what use does such a foreign lord have for you?" Kouji asked his father.

"Lord James had personally requested him for a personal interest in business is all that I know of, young Master," the butler smiled, giving Kouji and his brother a wink. He then led them inside where white, marbled stairs and floors connected various rooms of white and gold. Decorating the walls and hallways were beautiful Roman and Greek statues setting among rows and rows of heavily framed portraits of the members of the Clairebourne. "Please, follow me. Lord James awaits you all on the fourth floor."

As they were about to climbed the marbled stairs, Kouichi noticed a portrait of two people hanging on the wall next to him. It showed a handsome young man with black hair and brown eyes. He appeared to be in his early twenties. He was standing behind an elegant carved, cushioned chair. And in that chair is a girl who seems to be about twelve years old. Unlike the man standing behind her, the girl seems to be Asian, not a Caucasian.

For a moment there, Kouichi stood in the middle of the stairways and stared at the painting.

"Kouichi? What is it?" Löwe whispered curiously in his arm. Kouichi had been carrying him around since they arrived.

"It's nothing, Löwe," Kouichi replied quietly under his breath, out of the others' earshot. "I think I've seen her face somewhere before…"

"Nii-san? Hurry up, you're being left behind!" Kouji called.

"Oh, coming!" Kouichi replied, running up the stairs to catch up with his family.

When Kouichi caught up with his brother, he found that they were in front of a set of elegant double doors carved from mahogany in intricate patterns of flowers painted with gold rims. Harrison stopped them and began to give them instructions. "Now, you will address my Master as Lord Clairebourne. You must bow before he does and rise when he says so. You may greet him after he greets you and please don't be intimidated by his presence."

Kousei and Satomi nodded, giving the butler that they had understood. Harrison smiled and began to knock on the door. "My Lord?"

"Yes, what is it, Harrison?" said the voice inside.

"My Lord, the Minamoto family is here," Harrison replied.

"Excellent! Well, bring them in!"

Harrison complied as he opened the door and ushered the guests to come in. It appeared as if they were in a private study. The walls were made from dark, rich wood, polished and shined as though new. Surrounding the room against the walls were book cases, stacked with volumes and texts both in English and in Japanese. There were a few with titles in other languages, too. For example there were a few books in Italian, Chinese, French, and German. At one side of the room is a giant glass window, over-looking the gardens. There was also an antique chandelier that was made out of gold and crystals, its traditional stands now replaced with modern electric light bulbs instead. The floor was carpeted in what appears from the finest wools from Europe. The chairs were leathered and handmade by professionals. At the center of the room, a man, appeared about the same age as the twins' father, was standing behind a beautifully carved desk.

Lord James Clairebourne, the Duke of Lusteria seemed to be a bit young to be in his forties. His skin was white like any foreigners that the twins have seen. With a clean cut facial feature, Lord James Clairebourne's black hair shines from the luster, his eyes blue and his face kindly. The nobleman was wearing a formal suit only his had royal badges of honor along with ribbons and gold pins. Kouichi felt that this man's presence was a bit intimidating, stern, strong, forceful, and yet…a small linger of lost love. Strange.

"Allow me to present Kousei Minamoto, Head of the Minamoto Financial Group," Harrison nodded to the family. "And accompanying with him today is his family."

Kousei and Satomi bowed in the traditional Japanese way of proper etiquette to a higher ranking body. Kouichi and Kouji followed their example, although Kouichi could tell that his brother was trying not to show his annoyance. Lobo and Löwe demonstrated their "well-trained" manner as they bowed their heads partly.

"Welcome, Minamoto-san," Lord Clairebourne greeted kindly. "Welcome to my home. Please, no more bowing. A handshake is enough for me today." He motioned the Minamoto to rise as he himself extended a hand in front of Kousei as an act of greeting.

"Yes, it is a privilege to be here at your request, Clairebourne-dono," said Kousei, taking the nobleman's hand and shook in the Western culture of greeting.

"Please, I insist that you must call me James," Lord James laughed at the formality. "Considering the business affair that you're about to engage in, I believe that we are going to get along better than you think."

"As you wished, James-sama," Kousei agreed, despite not dropping the formal suffix to the nobleman's name, but Lord James brushed this aside, knowing well enough of the country's culture. "May I introduce to you my wife, Satomi, and my sons, Kouichi and Kouji."

"Enchanted to meet you, Satomi-san," said Lord James with a smile, greeting her with a formal kiss to her hand. "I'm delighted that you and your sons can join me today with my family."

"Thank you, James-sama. And these two are my step-sons and their pets, Lobo and Löwe," said Satomi, introducing them to Lord James.

At first, Lord James seemed a bit puzzled when she mentioned that Kouji and Kouichi are not her real sons. But instead of asking who their real mother is, the blue-eyed nobleman smiled as he saw that the two boys are identical twins, despite their different hair-cuts. "Ah, so you have twins, huh, Kousei-san?"

"_Hai_, Kouichi and Kouji are brothers and they're quite close to each other," Kousei smiled nervously.

"Well, you two seemed to be about the same age as my Kimberly. I'm sure that the two of you can be friends with her, now, can you?"

"We…um…_hai_, James-dono," Kouichi replied nervously.

"Well you seemed to be the shy one. I just hoped that your brother might be a better company to my daughter than you are," Lord James teased, shaking both of their hands. Kouji didn't smile as the nobleman shook his hand. "And I'm a bit surprised that your pets seemed to have some manners here. Did you train them yourselves?"

"You could say that they've been well-trained," Kouji replied.

"Ah, my Lord?" Harrison interrupted.

"Yes, what is it, Harrison?" Lord James asked.

"Pardon me, my Lord, but Sir Masanori has just arrived. He is in waiting by the pond in the gardens."

"Excellent! Kousei-sama, I believed that it is time for me to show you why I had requested you and your family for your presences."

And with that, Lord James and his guests followed Harrison towards the gardens in the "backyard" of the estate. As the adults discussed about their businesses, Kouji and Kouichi lingered behind to talk as they try to avoid unwanted wandering ears.

"Well, he seems nice," Kouichi smiled.

"Yeah, until he decides to promote Dad and somehow we had to move again," Kouji commented sarcastically.

Kouichi gave him a look full of worry when he mentioned this. Kouji was right. If Lord James promotes their father's company, then they might have to move someplace far away. They might have to move somewhere where it will be difficult for the twins to see each other. It was already difficult enough that both brothers could visit each others on weekends, not counting school. But if Kousei decided to move to a city section of Tokyo that's farther away or even worse in abroad, then the chances of seeing each other is very slim. If one of them decided to leave and live together with the other twin, then both brothers wouldn't be able to see one of their parents for a while.

Kouichi couldn't bare the thought of not being able to visit his brother, but he couldn't leave his mother and go live with his father and step-mother permanently. He just couldn't leave his mother. Not now of all times. She was just getting better from her illness and things are beginning to go well for him and her. Tomoko had a better job as Dr. Kotone Watsuki's personal secretary and book-keeper with a better pay from her last job. She was able to make enough money to pay off their rents and avoid heavy debts. Now she's happily visiting her relatives in Osaka and Kyoto as she was now fit and well enough to leave. And if she were to return only to find out that her eldest son have decided to leave her for his father…then she would be devastated.

"I can't leave her now. I just can't," Kouichi whispered under his breath. But hearing this, Kouji tried to apologize.

"I'm sorry, Nii-san. I shouldn't have brought that up," he said.

"No, you don't have to apologize, Kouji. I was just thinking about what you said, that's all," Kouichi tried to reassure him.

"Are we missing something, Kouichi-kun?" Löwe asked, still trying to keep his balance on Kouichi's shoulder. "What did you mean by _moving_?"

"Yes, is there something that we should also know, you two?" Lobo asked, glaring at Kouji.

The twins sighed in unison. They really didn't want to discuss the subject to anyone else as it felt uncomfortable for them. But since Lobo and Löwe are now a part of their family, they decided that it was fair for their guardian Knights to know of the situation as well. Kouichi looked at Löwe in the eye and began his explanation with a question.

"Well, you already know that our father's the head of a small financial group, right?" Kouichi asked.

"Yes, but only just now, after hearing what they were just talking about a few moments ago," Löwe nodded. "What about it?"

"Because of his job, we had to move from city to city in Tokyo for the past few years. I changed school a lot back then because of that, and because of Dad's job, I didn't get the chance to make enough friends. So I stopped trying every time," Kouji walked past a small column with a vase settled on top of it. He almost knocked it over, but instead, Kouji quickly spin out of the path that he was one and avoided the entire decoration with his quick reflexes. "But recently, Dad's job has been running smoothly for the past four years. He, Satomi, and I were able to stay where we lived now. Eventually, I met Takuya and the others and later on…" He trailed with a style of a cliff hanger, leaving Lobo and Löwe curious.

"…And later on, we met each other," Kouichi jumped in, because allowing his brother to continue.

"Yeah, and that's when we found out that we're twins and everything. I found out that my father had lied to me all of these years," Kouji scowled at the sour memories of his short anger at his father. "Dad told me that Mom…_our real mom_…was dead. I didn't know that I had an older brother. But eventually, things began to work out. Although our mother was ill from sadness, it helped that we were able to see each other from time to time. Eventually, we attended the same school."

"Although life was hard after my grandmother died, we tried to make the best of things…me and Mom," Kouichi smiled sadly as he remembered painful memories of a life of struggle. "Mom was sick from ME, as you've probably remember from Kyochi-sensei. But after coming to see him, she was getting better from her illness. She was able to find a better job working for Kyochi-sensei's mother. Things really seemed to be working out these past few months…but…"

"But what?" Löwe asked.

"But we think that things are about to change and not for the better," Kouji explained.

"How do you mean?"

"Well, for some reason, Lord James Clairebourne, the foreign nobleman that we'd just met, requested Father's and all of our audiences," said Kouichi. "We think that he wants our Dad to finance something and if Dad does well, then Lord James might promote his company."

"But wouldn't that be a good thing for you two, too?" Löwe questioned. "Your father would get credits that way and his reputation would go up. And soon, you two might be able to live a better life, right?"

"But not if we can't be together," Kouichi shook his head sadly.

"You forget that our parents are divorced," Kouji scowled. "It's not that I don't hate Satomi or anything, it's just because of the situation and we can't always be together."

"We're afraid that our father's company might grow and expand even abroad. And if that happens, he might have to move to a farther place and that would be difficult for us to see each other," Kouichi nodded sadly as he leaned against a wall. After the fight against Dusk that morning, the effect was exhausting him still. Although the affects had worn off a bit, Kouichi was still tired. He just wanted to sit down somewhere or even sleep for a little bit. But with his own willpower and effort, he successfully concealed his tiredness from the others for the moment. "I could easily come with Dad and Kouji and live with them, but I just can't leave my mother. Mom's life is getting better and now she's away visiting her cousins in Osaka and Kyoto this summer. But if she finds out that I left her for Kouji and Dad, she'll be sick again and I can't let that happen."

Finishing their story, the twins gave Lobo and Löwe a look of expectation. They didn't know what to expect but they expected a wise respond or an advice even. But their guardian Knights didn't answer them at first. After hearing about the situation that their master's in, they felt just as lost and hopeless as the twins are right now.

"I don't think that we can help nor can we interfere in your father's life," Lobo sighed. "But we could try and find a way to force him to stay even if it meant for your own happiness."

"But we won't because it is not our business, even though we are now involved," Löwe explained. "If this is a path that your father wants to take and if it is his wish and desire to pursue it, then we can't interfere."

"But what about Dusk?" Kouji demanded. "You said that you've interfered with his plot these past few centuries.

"That was because his desire for blood and power infringes on the safety and well-beings of innocent people. We had to try and stop him."

"But your family's case is a different matter," Löwe said passively. "We can't interfere, but we can help. We can help you decide so that you can change the future and not be afraid of it. Gali had told you that meeting the Clairebournes would change your lives?"

"Yes," Kouichi nodded solemnly.

"That could mean anything, Kouichi-kun," Löwe smiled. "It doesn't mean that it might result in the separation of you two. It could be anything, for good or for ill."

"Knowing Gali, it could be both," Lobo chuckled.

"All we're saying is that you shouldn't look at this as potential threatening news," Löwe explained. "Gali did mention that meeting these noblemen will change your feelings in your relationships. Perhaps she could have meant your relationships with your father and his ideals. It could be anything. Your father doesn't seem like a foolish man. I don't believe that he would want to be separated from you either, Kouichi-kun. So please, don't worry yourself ill over it."

"I hoped that you're right, Lobo," Kouichi smiled weakly.

They were so busy talking that they didn't noticed that they had crossed about four hallways and turned about seven corners. Looking up, they boys noticed that they are lagging farther and farther behind their parents and their host. Alerted, the two boys and their guardians tried to catch up. But unfortunately, a door suddenly opened in their path as two maids in uniform came out, blocking their view of their parents.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you friends of the young Master?" said one maid curiously, her arms full of towels.

"Who?" Kouji asked, his eyes rose in annoyance.

"We're here as Lord James' guests with our parents," Kouichi cut in with a smile. "Do you know where the gardens are?"

"Oh yes, just turn left at that corner and you should see a hall of glass doors. That's where the gardens are," the other maid smiled, pointing down the hallway.

"Thank you," Kouichi replied, as he went around the two maids and their cart of towels, followed by his brother and Lobo. Löwe, on the other hand, continued to cling to his shoulder and he tried not to fall off.

True to the maid's words, the four of them did find a hall of glass doors and mirrors with golden rims when they turned left at the corner. Beyond the glass doors were gardens of lush green and colorful flowers.

"There are the gardens and the doors are opened," Kouichi pointed it out.

"Our parents must have passed through here already," his brother nodded. "C'mon, if we run we can still catch up to them."

But when they ran out of the doors and into the gardens, they found that they were lost. The gardens of the estate were big and were divided into sections. There were pathways leading to a Roman Garden, a Shakespearian Garden, a Chinese Garden, a Japanese Garden and so forth.

"Kouji?" Kouichi asked, looking around trying to find his parents over the rows and rows of bushes and flowers.

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember Lord James mention which garden that we're supposed to go to?"

"No, he didn't. He just said gardens," Kouji replied, annoyed as he continued to help his brother search for their parents and their host.

"But there must be ten different garden here!" Kouichi cried. "How will we ever find them?"

"Relax, they couldn't have gone too far in just two minutes," Kouji reassured him. "Lobo, can you track them down?"

"Yes, but these gardens are filled with flowers and floras. The smells are a bit nauseating, but I can try and track them down," Lobo replied, bending down his head and he tried to sniff for a familiar scent.

Löwe hopped down from Kouichi's should and tried to help. "I can try to listen for something, but it's mostly dead quiet around here, save for the wind in the trees and the birds."

"Can you find them?" Kouichi asked again, a bit nervous.

"Relax, just give them a moment, Nii-san," Kouji smiled, then turned to face Lobo. "Well?"

"I'm picking up their scent, but it's a bit far away," Lobo replied. He then pointed his right front paw towards the left. "I believe they went that way."

"Well, lead the way," Kouichi smiled.

* * *

Unknown to the twins and their Guardian Knights, they were being watched. But this time, not by Dusk's spirit, nor were they being watched by Gali from her home. Instead, they were being watched by securities. Naturally with an estate this big, it needed a lot of security guards. There were a few cameras here and there to monitor the safe and well-beings of Lord James and his family as well and those who worked in the mansion.

The security cameras outside were design to see if there were any unwanted intruders trying to infiltrate the estate. Sure there were also guards monitoring the ground and the gates, but one can never know if there were any paparazzi or person who would want to sneak in and take a glimpse at the noblemen's family lifestyle.

Sitting in the security monitors room were about four employees doing their jobs. It just so happens that a new shift had started and the security guard who came to take the previous employee's place didn't see Lord James' guests, the Minamoto family, entering the ground. So when he saw the twins and their pets wandering around the gardens, he got curious.

"Sir?" he called to his superior.

"Yes, what is it, Kazu-kun?" the head of security asked.

"There seems to be these two boys and their pets wandering around the French Gardens," replied Kazu, pointing to one of the screens on the wall.

"You're right, Kazu," the superior nodded.

"Do you think that they're one of those trespassers?"

"I'm not sure, but they're wearing suits," the superior replied.

"Maybe they heard about the Lord's garden party and decided to sneak in? Should we call Mizuki-chan and her squads to chase them out, sir?"

"No, not yet, Kazu-kun," the superior shook his head. "I just got a call recently from her and she said that Lord James's honored guest and his family had just arrived. You should check to see if the Lord's guest had any sons with pets with him today."

"Yes, sir," replied the security guard as he began to dial a number. "Um, hello, could I speak to Harrison-san, please? Yes, asked him if the Lord's guests include two boys with a black cat and a white dog today. What? Oh, because I'm seeing them wandering around the French Garden on the screen right now and I wanted to be sure if they're unwelcome guests or not. What? Oh, alright, I can wait five minutes. See you later, Mizuki-chan."

"So now what?" the superior asked.

""Mizuki said that she'll call Harrison and asked him about it. For now we wait for her return call," Kazu replied.

"Well, keep your eyes on them, Kazu-kun," said the superior. "If they are indeed unwelcomed guests or even spies working for the paparazzi, then I don't want you to lose sight of them. The last time we had one of those was one trying to take pictures of the Lady while dressed up as a pool-cleaner. We had enough problems with him and his goons. Where are they now?"

"They're heading for the maze, sir," replied Kazu.

"Well, we haven't installed any new cameras in there yet, but if they ever come out, we'll catch them."

"I just hoped that they won't end up dead in there," Kazu smiled jokingly. " I heard a rumor that the last time an unwanted guest went in there, he ran out scared as though he had seen a ghost."

"Ha, ha, very funny, Kazu."

Unknown to the both of them, someone else had heard a partial of their conversation about two more unwanted intruders in the maze. It was then that Kimberly Clairebourne had decided to confront these two boys as she slipped pass the security guards without a noise. She was a bit bored, and so she was curious to see who these two boys are.

* * *

"Kouji?"

"Yeah, what is it, Nii-san?" Kouji asked.

"We're lost are we?" Kouichi asked dully.

"We're not lost, we're just trying to get out of this hedge maze," Lobo growled, still sniffing around.

"Lobo, we've been trying to find our way out of here for half an hour already," Löwe shook his head. "Honestly, why did we let you convince us to go through this _shortcut _in the first place?"

"It was the only route that I could find at the moment!" Lobo snapped. "How was I supposed to know that we would end up in this hedge maze?"

"Can you still sense our parents, Lobo?" Kouichi asked.

"Yes, but at the moment, we're stuck in here," Lobo shook his head in frustration.

"Maybe not," said Kouji as he walked past his dog towards one end of the hedge wall. "Look, there are some poles here left by the gardeners. We could use them to climb out and get out of here. Kouichi, could you give me a hand?"

"Sure, what do you need me to do?" said Kouichi, rolling up his sleeves.

"Hold these two poles up and try to keep them parallel to each other," Kouji instructed, handing his brother two of the poles from the wall. "I'll try and climb up and see if we can find our way out of this maze."

"Alright but be careful," Kouichi replied. He placed two of the poles parallel to each other as his brother had instructed. For extra support, he dug them both deep into the ground so that they won't slip from Kouji's weight.

Luckily, the poles were strong enough and they didn't budge as Kouji climbed on top of Kouichi's should. Lobo and Löwe sat and watched curiously as Kouichi struggled not to move or else they would both come tumbling down.

"You alright down there?" Kouji asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kouichi replied. "Can you see anything?"

Kouji took another look around with his head over the maze and began to scan the layouts from above. "I found the exit. It's just up ahead after a few more turns. Once we get out, we can head straight for that garden up ahead!"

"Can you memorize the way out?"

"Yeah, I just did and—" Kouji replied but was interrupted by Lobo and Löwe.

"Shh! Be quiet!" Löwe snapped.

"What is it, Löwe?" Kouichi asked.

"I thought I heard something," Löwe growled, tensing as he positioned himself in a fighting stance.

"Where? I don't hear anything."

"Löwe's right," Lobo growled in confirmation. He turned to face the other side of the walls. "I smell someone coming."

"Who is it?" Kouichi asked, looking a bit worried.

"I don't know. I'd never sense this presence before," Lobo replied tensely. "But I know that it's human, at least. But for a human, it's pretty fast."

"Shh! Listen!" Löwe hushed them. "I heard something!"

For a moment there, all four of them stood still, trying not to move a hair. Kouichi held his breath as he wasn't sure who was coming. But he felt that if Lobo and Löwe think that it's a threat, then it could be something serious. After a while, when no one came, Kouji growled in irritation as he tried to slowly climb down and off of his brother's shoulders.

"What did you get us all tensed up for?" Kouji snapped.

"But it was there!" Löwe cried. "I heard someone coming!"

"Well where is this stranger?" Kouji remarked.

"I don't know," Löwe replied in frustration, "but I know that he or she is still close and we need to be cautious or else—"

"DUCK!" Lobo cried suddenly, interrupting his friend as something shiny came flying past the twins.

The flying object flew past Kouichi's ear, startling him so that he stumbled back in fright. Kouji had no choice but to fall down as he lost his footing. He landed on top of his twin and began to protect himself and his brother by shield them both as the two poles came tumbling down. The poles were made out of wood, and so they didn't hurt as much as they fell on the twins and rolled harmlessly to the sides.

Getting up, Kouji quickly apologized to his brother and look up. "What the _hell_ was that?"

"I don't know, it was too fast," Löwe cried.

"QUICK! GET UP YOU TWO!" Lobo snapped. "That person's is at it again!"

Just as the twins got up from where they fell, three more sharp objects came flying at them. Kouichi cried, startled that one of them flew past his shoulder and disappeared into the hedge wall of the maze. But two of them struck near their feet, sticking from the ground from where they had fallen before. In the glistening sun, the four of them saw what the flying objects were: daggers!

"What the fuck?" Kouji swore. Lobo and Löwe growled as they all heard the leaves of the hedge walls rustling and moving in front of them. Kouji tensed up as he picked up one of the fallen poles and steadied himself in a self-defense position that he had learned from his martial art classes. "Who are you? Show yourself!"

There was no reply at first, but then Lobo growled viciously and began to bark. Another dagger came flying from the rustling hedge and headed towards Kouichi's face. With quick reflexes, Kouji twirled the staff around and around in front of him and his brother. The flying dagger came and was caught stuck in the wooden pole.

"Huh?" Kouichi gasped as Kouji stopped rotating the pole and took a look at the dagger that was dug into it. The dagger was silver and the handle was elegant in design. Carved in intricate patterns, it had a crest with a symbol of a raven with a crown on it. The crowned raven is the official symbol of the Clairebourne family for generation.

"I'm not going to ask you again!" Kouji warned, grabbing the knife and pulled it out of the wooden pole and threw it to the ground. "Who are you? Show yourself!"

"I should be asking you the same thing!" said a voice. Suddenly, a fierce looking girl jumped out from behind a hedge wall and threw five more daggers at the boys' feet.

The girl was Japanese but was wearing a Western style school uniform or so with long sleeves, short skirts with tight stockings, and black boots. Her hair was dark raven blue like the twins' but slightly wavy, unlike the usual straight hair that most Asian has. Her hair was tied up in a graceful bun with a strand of wavy hair streaming out from the center. Between her waving side bangs, were two piercing blue eyes. Kouichi could see that the girl was slim and beautiful, but frightening.

Lobo and Löwe growled and began to bark at her, and in respond, she threw two more daggers at them. Lobo and Löwe yelped as they leapt back a few steps, trying to avoid the silver weapon.

**"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT FOR?"** Kouji yelled.

"You didn't answer my question!" The girl replied coldly. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" If she weren't so intimidating, Kouichi would have found her voice charming and beautiful to hear. But with the deadly tone in her voice, it was frightening as it was staring into her cold, piercing blue eyes. For some reason, he couldn't help shake off that same feeling that he had experienced a few days ago. But then it hit him. He had seen this girl before.

**"IT'S YOU!"** Kouichi cried, shockingly pointing at her as he slowly backed away. "You're the girl from the restaurant!"

"Nii-san what are you talking about!" Kouji cried. The girl just gave him a confused expression as though she thought of him delusional.

"It's her, Kouji!" Kouichi cried. "On the day of the Obon Festival. I think I saw her at the restaurant that morning! She was spying on us, Kouji!"

It was then that Kouji realized what his brother was talking about. This girl…could she be a spy for Dusk? The thought of it made Kouji's blood boiled with anger. It was this girl's fault that his brother had suffered! So it was this girl's fault that Izumi is crying over Ami's fate. And now that her master is gone, she had tracked them down here for revenge.

"I had it with your games, I'm ending this now!" Kouji pointed one end of his pole, or his staff, at her threateningly. Lobo barked at her again and Löwe hissed with such venom.

The girl stared at them blankly but then shrugged as she positioned herself in a fighting stance. "You guys are delusional if you think you can accuse me of something like that. But since you insist on being so stubborn…" she replied with a savage pleasure in her voice. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, she pulled out ten more daggers from her sleeves or hidden pocket, each nestled between her fingers as if she were a _shinobi_, "…let's end this, now!"

It was then Kouji realized that this girl is a _shuriken-justu_ user and a good one at that, too. Kouji realized how much trouble they were all in right now. With ten small but deadly knives between her fingers and aimed at them, Kouji wasn't sure if he could block them all. Instead of the cool and calm and collected fighter that he is, Kouji could only say two words to expression the situation that they were in right now…

"Oh, shit!"

And with that, the girl threw her daggers and knives and let them fly towards the twins and their Guardian Knights.

**Author's notes: I apologized as I didn't expect to make this chapter that long. At last, the twins are about to meet the mysterious daughter of Lord James Clairebourne, but who is the fierce girl with the crazy shuriken-jutsu skills? Is she really working for Dusk or is she someone else with a personal vendetta? You'll just have to wait until the next chapter to see!**

**Cultural references:**

_**Hai, Otou-san—**_** means "Yes, Dad!"**

_**-dono**_** is the Japanese suffix used to identify royals and noblemen in Japan instead of the usual –**_**sama**_**.**

**The girl that Kouichi was referring to at the end was the mysterious girl from chapter 4: The Strangers. He didn't really saw her, but he knew that there was a malicious presence left behind after she left. She could be the Oracle in disguise or she could be a spy for Dusk, as Kouji had thought. I won't tell you until the next chapter.**

**A **_**shinobi **_**is like a ninja warrior trained in the art of combat and stealth back in the old days of Japan.**

_**Shuriken-jutsu **_**is the traditional term of an old Japanese martial arts of throwing daggers, knives, shurikens, and other sharp weapons used by the shinobi in feudal Japan. The art itself is typically secretive and only a few people would know how to practice them today as it is a dying art since the turn of the 20th century. The weapons used are small and easily concealed, so they have the versatility of being used as a throwing or stabbing weapon at close and far range. There are still about two schools today that practice this old art but few are known to practice them.**

**So how are Kouji and Kouichi going to get out of this mess? Tune in to find out! I promise I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible. Maybe less than a month even!**

**Please read and review.**


	17. Another Set of Twins

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violences**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Sixteen: Another Set of Twins**

As quickly as he could, Kouji pushed his brother away as the ten daggers came flying at them both. About five of the ten thrown daggers landed near their feet while the others flew for their heads and center. Kouji knocked all of them by rotating his wooden poles.

Their opponent, a fierce looking girl with dark hair and piercing blue eyes smirked at him. Kouji saw the reason for her mocking expression. All five of the daggers that he had deflected were sticking out of his wooden pole! His weapon was a little bit useless against her metal knives. Her throwing skill seemed to be precise and deadly enough to actually punctured holes in the staff. At the moment, Kouji wished that he had something made out of metal. It would have helped a bit more if the staff that he was using was made out of one, or at least he wished that he had a katana with him. That way, he would at least be able to deflect the flying weapons properly and stood a chance against her. No, this won't work. If Kouji keeps on using the wooden pole as his staff, it could easily get destroyed after a few more daggers. And Kouji had no idea how much the girl was concealing them in her clothing.

Kouji then remembered Gali's words of caution to him before. _"Watch your brother, and be careful when you meet _her _tomorrow," _was what the Oracle had told him. He then realized what she had meant. The girl that Gali was talking about was the one right in front of them! Damn it! He would have to find a way to fight her hand to hand or convinced her to fight without her daggers.

"Give it up," said the girl. "There's no way that you can win. So why don't you go make yourself useful and follow me to the gates?"

"Not gonna happen!" Kouji sneered at her. "You forget that you're outnumbered!"

Lobo and Löwe growled and barked at her in agreement. But the girl just smiled condescendingly as if it was a joke. "Outnumbered, you say? That doesn't matter. You shouldn't worry about me because I can take care of myself. I would worry more about your companion there. It seems to me that he's scared out of his wits." She nodded her head towards Kouichi. "Yes, I'm _outnumbered_. But you boys and your little pets are _outmatched_! Face it, your wooden staff can't withstand much longer against my knives. It's too weak for once! Now, I'm not going to ask you again! Identify yourself and tell me what you are doing here!"

The girl pulled out another dagger and began to aim at Kouichi. Kouji saw this and ran in front of his brother, trying to defend him. Kouichi got up and stood behind his brother, worried.

"Stay behind me, Kouichi!" he cried, trying to knock the dagger away. But to his surprised, she threw another dagger behind the one that he had just deflected and it etched itself into the wooden pole just above where Kouji's hands were. It startled him so that he had to release his hold on the staff. He tried to bend down and pick up the other unused pole as quickly as he could. But the girl saw this and took her chance. She threw two more daggers and successfully pinned both of Kouji's arm to the ground.

"Kouji!" Kouichi gasped, running over to his brother's side to check his wound. But to his surprise, the knives didn't even touch his brother's skin. Instead, it just pinned him down by his sleeves. "Kouji, are you alright?" Kouichi asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kouji replied. He tried to free himself from the ground but the knives were deeply embedded into the ground. If he pulled any harder, he would have ruined his suit. Kouichi saw this, and tried to pry the knives off with his own hand.

"No, Kouichi, you have to get out of here!" Kouji cried.

"No, I'm not leaving!" Kouichi whispered.

"So, you're names are Kouji and Kouichi, huh?" said the girl. "I'll admit, for an outsider, you're pretty skilled in self defense."

Lobo and Löwe growled and barked at her, but she ignored them. "It's over. I've beaten you."

"What do you want from us?" Kouichi demanded, his voice sounding as though frightened. "Why did you spy on us? Are you working for Dusk?"

The girl gave him a look of confusion before scolding at him. "I don't know what you're talking about! I don't know this Dusk and I certain had never seen you two before. You really have some nerves to continue playing this mind game of yours. So stop lying and leave me alone!" The girl pulled out another dagger and pointed it at the twins. Kouichi panicked and tried to pull on the two daggers harder in order to free his brother. He managed to pry one out, releasing Kouji's left arm. But then they both heard a cry.

Lobo took his chance to distract the girl by pouncing on her. Startled, the girl backed away and yelped when Löwe jumped on her arm. He was successful in knocking the pointed dagger out of her hand then cling fiercely to her sleeve.

"Get off, you mangy thing!" she yelled, trying to shake Löwe off, but he just wouldn't let go. The more she shook, the tighter he gripped on her. The girl was desperately trying to pry the cat off of her so hard that the hem of her sleeve was in danger of ripping. Finally, with one last shake, Löwe flew off of her and landed harmlessly to the ground. And in his mouth was a piece of cloth ripped from the girl's sleeve. After freeing himself from the last dagger that was holding him down, Kouji looked up and saw something that he didn't expect to see.

At the place where the torn sleeve was, there revealed on the girls hand…a bandage. There was a bandage wrapped neatly around her wrist as if she had been injured there. Kouji could only guess that that part of her body was probably her weak point. Swiftly, he grabbed one of the wooden poles on the ground and ran straight for her.

The girl saw this and tried to throw another dagger at him, but he dodged it as it went flying into the hedge. When Kouji got too close, the girl tried to switch from her shuriken-jutsu to a hand to hand combat. She tried to strike and kicked at his center, but Kouji dodged to one side and came up to her left. Quickly, she tried to face him but recoiled back when Kouji struck at her left bandaged-wrist with his staff. Kouji tried not to hit her too hard since he didn't want to break anything, but a slap on it was enough to push her back. The girl winced in pain as her other hand clasped her injured wrist. Kouji took this chance to knock her off her feet and then pointed one end of his staff up against the girl's throat.

"Game over," he said. "I won."

The girl didn't move as she was too shocked that she was outwitted. Kouichi and their guardian Knights slowly came over to them both.

"Get up!" Kouji ordered, still keeping one end of his staff against her throat.

At first, Kouichi thought that she would try to resist and attack him again, but to his surprise, she complied as she slowly got up with Kouji's staff still against her throat.

"Alright, I won fair and square. Now I have some questions for you and I expect you to answer them," Kouji continued. The girl's piercing bright blue eyes glared venomously at him. "Who are you and why did you attacked us?"

"I thought that you knew, since you've decided to sneak around on my turf," the girl spat coldly. "You people are all the same. Why can't you just leave me and my mother alone?"

"Wait! What do you mean by that?" Kouichi asked. "I thought that I saw you spying on us at the restaurant on the day of the Obon Festival."

"What are you talking about? I told you, I have never seen you two before," she said with a hint of annoyance.

"So you're not Dusk's accomplice?" Kouichi asked.

"I don't know who this Dusk is, but your little accusation is getting on my nerves!"

"What do you mean by leaving you and your mother alone?" Kouji demanded.

"You should know," she replied coldly, glaring at him with her piercing blue eyes, but Kouji wasn't swayed by them at the moment. "You're here to try and get a story on us so that you can report back to your bosses! Why can't you understand that she's not well and that she needs time to rest? Why do you people have to keep on snooping around our place just so that you can get a scoop? I can't stand you people!"

"What are you saying, girl?" Kouji asked.

"Stop playing the stupid game!" the girl yelled. With one hand she knocked his staff out of her face and pointed at him and his brother with an accusing finger and a tone full of hatred and anger. "You're with those damn paparazzi, aren't you? They hired you to sneak and trespass on our property just so that you can get keep your job by spying on my sick mother! Well, I already told you people that there's nothing to see here. No get out!"

"Wait, miss!" Kouichi stopped us, holding up his hands in defense. "I think this is all a misunderstanding! We're not part of the paparazzi, honest!"

"Then who are you and what are you doing here?" she asked. "It was bad enough that I had to teach the last guy who had wandered in here a lesson. Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're kids!"

"You're a kid, too!" Kouji snapped.

"Watch your tongue, boy!" she scolded him, she then turned her head towards Kouichi. "Your partner is very rude, you know that?"

"Please, just hear us out," Kouichi begged. "We're not working for the paparazzi and we're here because of business."

"If you're here on business then why were you snooping around in the first place?"

"Well, we…kinda got lost and ended up here," Kouichi replied, his cheeks blushing pink as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "We didn't mean any harm, really! We just got separated from our parents. Could you help us find them, please?"

The girl glared at him and Kouji new that she didn't believe him at all. Kouichi was about to say more but she held up a hand to silence him. "Not my problem. Now just forget about your damn photo and news report and get out of here. Or else I'll call the guards!"

"Please, I don't want you to think badly of us, miss," Kouichi pleaded. "We just want to find our parents. And I'm sorry for what my cat did to you."

"Look just show us the way out of here, will ya?" Kouji remarked. "Or do I have to knock you down again to make you?" Lobo barked at her in agreement and he silently growled in annoyance at her.

Seeing how persistent these boys are, the girl step back and did what she said that she would do. "Help! Help! Guards! Anybody! Help!" she cried, her tone sounding as though she was a scared little girl, but Kouji knew that she was acting.

"What should we do, Kouji?" Kouichi asked, his heart racing as they both panic.

"I don't know. Run, maybe?" Kouji suggested.

"We can't, we're in a maze!" Kouichi cried.

Suddenly, Lobo barked and Löwe hissed as rustling leaves and pacing footsteps came running towards them. It appeared to be only one guard was on his way to help this crazy girl. But then suddenly, Lobo's ears perked up as he smelt a familiar scent and Löwe heard a family voice.

"Kimi? Where are you?" said the voice as his footstep got closer and closer.

"I'm in here!" the girl cried. "Help me, there are these two intruders and they won't leave me alone!"

"Don't worry, I'm coming! I—" suddenly the voice stopped as the figure finally emerged from the side of the hedge wall. Both the twins stared at the new person in shock as well as Lobo and Löwe.

"Kouji? Kouichi?" said the new arrival as he saw the twins. The new arrival was wearing a formal suit with a mint-green tie, his shoes shine lustrous black, and his hair a bit messy. But his face…it was clearly the face of someone that the twins had just ran into the day before at the hospital. The new arrival was none other than—

"Kyochi-sensei?" Kouji and Kouichi exclaimed, their eyes opened wide at the surprise. Kouji pointed at him and demanded, "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I could be asking you guys the same question!" Kyochi replied, still a little bit in shock.

"You know these two, Nii-san?" the girl asked, her voice in shock, too.

"NII-SAN?" Kouji and Kouichi cried in shock.

"Well, yeah. You could say that we're…friends?" Kyochi laughed nervously as his sister gave him an annoyed look. Then he turned to Kouji and Kouichi and nodded. "I see that you guys just had the pleasure of meeting my sister and the daughter of Lord James Clairebourne; Princess Kimberly Clairebourne."

"Nii-san, I told you to never call me that!" his sister scowled.

"Oh, alright, Kimi," Kyochi laughed.

"K-Kimi?" Kouji asked. He let go of the staff that was in his hand fall to the ground and pointed at her. "You're the Kimi that _he_," he pointed at Kyochi, "and his friends were talking about?"

"You're a…a…p-princess?" Kouichi asked, his voice stuttering a bit. "Y-you're…you're Kimberly-hime?"

"So what if I am?" she snapped.

"Wait so what are you two doing here?" Kyochi interrupted.

"We already told _her_," Kouji glared at Kimi before continuing, "that we were here on business!"

"And what business would that be?"

"We're just here because Dad dragged us into this mess of some sort of business deal of his, that's what!"

"Ah, so you guys must be the honored guests that Lord Clairebourne has been talking about all week," Kyochi smiled.

"Um…well, yes! You could say that," Kouichi nodded in embarrassment. "So if you're her brother, then she must be your twin sister that Masaki-kun had told us about."

It was true. Now that Kyochi and Kimi are standing next to each other, Kouji, Kouichi, and their guardian Knights could see the resemblances. They both had dark raven hair, piercing blue eyes, but Kimi's seemed to be more fierce and lighter while her brother's are a bit darker in tone. Their facial features are similar but Kimi's is more feminine. Unlike Kouji and Kouichi who are identical twins, these two are fraternal twins, and so have some different features. For one thing, Kimi is a bit shorter than her brother by an eye level. Kouichi could guess that she was about the same size as Izumi. And like a girl, her hair is long, but slightly wavy.

Then, remembering what Masaki had told him, Kouichi looked down at her left wrist. "So that's why we didn't see you at the Obon Festival!" he nodded towards her injured wrist. "You've got hurt from fencing, didn't you?"

"How did you know that?" Kimi involuntarily held up her injured wrist and placed it on her chest with her other hand wrapped around it protectively.

"Oh, um, one of your friends, Masaki-kun, told us, that's all!" Kouichi felt as if he was intruding in her personal life as she continued to stare at him with those piercing blue eyes of hers. "I'm sorry to intrude. I hoped that Kouji hadn't hurt you too much."

"I'm sure he doesn't," Kimi scoffed, giving Kouji daggered eyes which Kouji returned with the same glare.

"Have you two been fighting?" Kyochi asked curiously. "Kouji, you've got holes in your sleeves and Kouichi-kun, you've got dirt everywhere on your suit." Turning to his sister, he asked, "What did you do this time?"

"I didn't kill them, if that's what you're implying, Nii-san," Kimi replied, avoiding her brother's eyes. "I'll see you later."

"Where are you going? Aren't you going to apologize to them?" Kyochi scolded her.

"I'm going to change," Kimi replied, turning her head towards her brother. "And as for apologies…I'll think about it."

"Wait, I'm sorry!" Kouichi cried. "I didn't mean to offend you!"

"I don't care! Just leave me alone!" she bawled.

"Kimi!" Kyochi cried, but his sister was already gone as she turned around the corner of the maze that they were in. shaking his head, he turned to the twins and their guardian Knights. "I apologize for her. She just mistook you guys for being part of those annoying paparazzi."

"Yeah, no kidding?" Kouji replied sarcastically. "Seriously, what is her problem anyway?"

"If she offended you guys in any way, I'm sorry. She was just trying to protect her mother who's really not feeling well," Kyochi replied.

"And she does that by trying to kill us with flying daggers?" Kouji snapped.

"Kimi's really talented with knives. She's well trained enough to avoid hurting you on purpose. Most likely, she was just trying to intimidate you. Kimi would never kill you on purpose," Kyochi explained then with pleading eyes, he begged, "And I would really appreciate it if you'll not mention that to anyone, please. Not many people know that she knows martial art. Not even her father. And if he finds out, it won't end well for any of us."

Kouji and Kouichi seemed reluctant at first but then Kouichi smiled. "Alright, Kyochi-sensei, we promised not to tell, but how are we going to explain to our parents when they see us looking like this?"

Kyochi looked at them again, and saw that Kouichi was right. Their suits were pretty much a bit dirty after the fall and tumble and the fight with Kimi earlier. They can't just show up like this in front of their parents and the nobleman without any proper explanation. But then Kyochi smiled, and said, "I have an idea. I have a few suits that looked just like yours in my room. If you'll come with me, we'll get you two settled."

"Fine," Kouji muttered in agreement. "But would you mind explaining a few things to us on the way, first?"

"Sure, I don't mind," Kyochi laughed and lead the four of them towards the exit. "Let's get out of this maze, you guys!"

After sneaking them out of the maze and into his room, Kyochi picked up a phone and called Harrison to tell him where his friends were and that they'll be downstairs later on.

In Kyochi's room, Kouji and Kouichi found themselves in a dreamlike state. After entering the door, they found themselves on a balcony! Looking down, they could see that Kyochi's quarter took up two floors into one whole room. To their left were the stairs to descend down into the entire quarter. The room before them seemed like a study and a sitting room. There were bookcases everywhere, with texts on the subject of the human anatomy. The walls were made out of dark, rich wood, with canvases and paintings here and there. A few graduation degrees from high school, colleges, and even music schools hung and decorated the walls. There was a fine desk that was similar to Lord James' like the one in his study that sat in the center. A few books and medical records were scattered across it. Across the desk on the other side of the room were these huge windows with the velvet curtains drawn open, letting in the sunlight to warm and brighten up the room. The ceiling was covered in modems and relief carvings of angels and clouds. In the center was a crystal chandelier. But its design was slightly different than the one in Lord James' study. It was a bit smaller in size and the crystals designs were slightly different.

After taking in the view, Kouji whistled before commenting sarcastically, "You really are a rich bastard, you know that?"

"Kouji!" Kouichi scolded in alarm. Turning towards his friend, he tried to apologize for his brother's rude behavior. But to their surprise, Kyochi just laughed.

"I didn't think that you would call me that," he smiled, leading them down the stairs from the balcony. "I take it that you must have heard that insult from Takashi-kun?"

"You could say that," Kouji replied, rolling his eyes. "We heard him cursing you yesterday in the park."

"So what did I do this time to make him angry again?" Kyochi asked curiously.

Kouichi looked up towards the ceiling as if he was trying to remember. Then he replied, "He mentioned something like another one of your excuses to keep her away from him."

"Kimi," Kyochi nodded as he finally understood. Shaking his head, he replied, "Takashi-kun can be so…overacting when it comes to her."

"So he does have a crush on her?"

"That's surprising," said Kouji, rolling his eyes, "It's really hard to believe that anyone would fall for someone like her!"

"Kouji!" Kouichi scolded. "That's enough already! I'm sorry, Kyochi-sensei!"

"It's okay, Kouichi-kun. I'm not offended," Kyochi said, leading them past his work desk and towards the opposite wall. "I believe that I have some extra suits in my wardrobes somewhere. Follow me, please." Lobo and Löwe followed the twins and Kyochi, swishing and flicking their tails in curiosity. They weren't curious about the entire room. More likely, they were curious about the boy, Kyochi. Gali had mentioned that he possessed some sort of gift of reading people, as if he is able to read their auras and distinguish them.

In one corner was a doorway, leading into a smaller room connected to the one that they were in. It turns out to be the bedroom. The four poster bed was made out of fine, rich, wood, carved with designs native to the Clairebournes' homeland. The bed was soft and comfortable that it felt like paradise for dreamers to just lie down and sleep peacefully. There were a few wardrobes that most likely have some replica suits that Kyochi's friends might needed.

Kyochi gestured his friends to sit on the bed as he came towards the wardrobes. Kouji folded his arms and he sat down, with Lobo at his feet. Kouichi sat down next to him and began to scratch Löwe behind the ears when the cat jumped onto his lap and purred like a real cat being pampered from pleasure.

"So you said that you were going to explain," Kouji remarked. "So my first question; what's the deal-yo with your crazy sister?"

"My sister isn't crazy!" Kyochi snapped so suddenly that Löwe jumped. His sudden rush of anger startled Kouichi and Kouji to the point that even Kouji's eyes were wide opened in shock. Kouichi had always saw Kyochi as the kind-hearted medical student as he was, and Kouji had always thought that Kyochi was a bit like his brother. A bit shy, meek, and somewhat quiet and modest, this sudden outburst clear proves that Kyochi is more than he seemed. It appeared as though he doesn't take insults about his twin lightly.

Kyochi sighed as he opened one of his wardrobes and began to inspect his friends' slightly ruined suits before diving into a sea of his own. "I'm sorry, guys. I really hate it when people misunderstood my sister. But I'm telling you that she's not crazy. Kimi's just…she was just trying to protect her sick mother from snooping journalists."

"Kyochi, your sister threatened us with knives!" Kouji insisted furiously.

"I told you! Kimi never meant to hurt you. She was just trying to scare you because she mistook you guys for spies working for those journalists!"

"How can she mistook us for paparazzi?" Kouichi asked curiously.

"She assumed that you somehow heard of her father's business dinner party and that you would try to disguise yourselves to sneak in," Kyochi explained. He took one suit out, shook his head, and put it back in its place before continuing his search. "We had a few of the same incident before. The last time was a man disguising himself as our pool cleaner. He was trying to take photos of the Lady. But Kimi found him sneaking around and dealt with him."

"You're saying that no one knows that she knows shuriken-jutsu and other martial arts?"

"Almost everyone," Kyochi explained. "I know, some of her maternal relatives know, but not her father…not even my mother knows…"

There was a silence between them as Kyochi mentioned his mother. As if there was a change of air, the three boys felt as though the room was full anxieties, crushing them with burdens and hurts from the past. Shaking his head, Kouji said, "Look, this is all very confusing. So why don't you do us a favor and start from the beginning?"

Kouichi and the guardian Knights sat up when Kyochi nodded in agreement.

"This might sound a bit cliché, but Kimi and I were—" Kyochi began.

"Separated when young? Yeah, us, too!" Kouji cutting in quite rudely. Kouichi only gave him a pleading look to be polite.

"Do you want to hear the story or not?" Kyochi snapped.

"Fine, but don't make it too long," Kouji scowled.

"Alright, as you know, Kimi is my younger twin sister. We're fraternal twins, unlike you guys." He nodded towards Kouichi and his brother with a small smile. "Our mother, whom you have met, is Kotone Watsuki. And she's a doctor. Our father..." For a moment, Kyochi paused there as if the subject of his father was something of a painful memory. But Kyochi swallowed his nervousness and continued. "Our father, Kohaku Watsuki, was an admiral and I haven't seen him in a while. And being one, he had a few enemies…

"Kimi and I…our whole family was together for a few months. But then, Kimi was stolen from us by one of my father's enemies…"

"You mean she was kidnapped?" Kouichi's eyes widen in shock. "But why?"

"Apparently, my father had captured and arrested the man's leader during the war. The kidnapper was a member of a group of conspirators and with their leaders behind bars, he wanted revenge. We were staying in a villa up in the mountains. There was a storm and somehow, the man stole Kimi when my parents and I were in the other room. He tried to drown her in the nearby river. My father followed him and tried to save her. The two of them fought but…but the storm created a flash flood. My father and the man survived, but Kimi…I believed that she was swept away in the river."

"How did she survived?" Kouji asked. He was curious since the story was getting a lot more interesting.

"I don't know, but I do know that Lord James and his wife, Ren, found her a few miles away when the storm passed," Kyochi explained solemnly. "They thought that she was abandoned and adopted her as their own. But most of the story about them, you have already known from the news, right?"

"Not much," Kouichi shrugged. "We do know that the previous son of the Duke died so now Lord James is Duke and the Head of the Clairebourne family of England."

"Actually, that's a misinterpretation," Kyochi interrupted. "The Clairebournes aren't members of royal family from England. They're from Lusteria."

When Kyochi mentioned the name of the kingdom, the twins and their guardian Knights sat up straight and alert. "Lusteria? You mean like the one from the story?"

"What story?" Kyochi's eyes arched up with confusion.

"The one about the vampire named Dusk who tried to destroy the kingdom and getting his hand on power and immortality?" Kouji replied.

"But that's just an urban legend!" Kyochi replied. "It's just something that people thought up of to wear of the evil eyes and bad luck. It's not real, but yes, it's that Lusteria. And as you know, the kingdom's lineage is still very much alive today. You just met the Duke, haven't you?"

"Yeah, you got a point," Kouichi nodded unsurely. Wanting to change the subject, he began to ask his friend the question that he and everyone had been dying to know. "So how did you two find out about each other, Kyochi-sensei?"

"Well, that's also a long story, Kouichi-kun, but I'll cut it as short as I can," Kyochi managed to pull one suit out of his wardrobe and gave it to Kouji. Then he went back to search for the one that's almost identical to Kouichi's. "You probably know that Kimi had another brother beside me, right?"

"Yeah, Prince Alan, right?" Kouji nodded. He picked up the suit and put it over his chest, trying to see himself wearing it. The materials of said suit were much finer and more comfortable than the one that he was wearing. "He was killed in that incident, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, and Kimi witnessed his murder," Kyochi nodded solemnly. "She told me that he died protecting her because they were out alone…and outnumbered. Those men, who murdered him, were members of the _yakuza_."

Kyochi paused before he continued. "That was why Lord James doesn't want the world to find out about Kimi. He ordered that no photos of her was to be released out to the public. That's why you don't see any more photos of her or his wife these days. After the shock of her only son's death, Lady Ren suffered. She succumbed to her loss and sadness and that's how I got here."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, after moving here to Japan, Lady Ren's health wasn't getting better," Kyochi tried to explain. "And Lord James didn't want the public to know about his wife's condition or what his daughter looked like. At that time, Kimi was sick with the local flu, so he called my mother and me to come. And that's when…" he began to trail off. Kouji and Kouichi and their guardian Knights began to understand to connection.

"…and that's when you two first met, wasn't it?" Kouichi asked.

"…Yes…it was," Kyochi nodded with a smile of sadness and joy on his face. "It was such a shock…for the both of us…but most of all, to her. The truth that Alan wasn't her real brother, and that her family had been lying to her all of these years was devastating. My mother was happy. She was happy to have found out that Kimi was alive and well. She and my father had thought that she had died years ago. As for me, I was too young to remember her."

"Didn't you feel anything at all when you found out that you have a little sister, Kyochi?" Kouji nudged.

"Well…I…I was in shock, too, yes," Kyochi replied as he remembered the day that he had found out about the truth. "I lost my father when he left for duty. My mother was sad when they reported that he was missing in action. We never found out what happened to him. To my mother and me, that was the biggest lost of our lives. Meeting Kimi was like…was like meeting someone who had just came back from the dead for my mother. She had lost so much…Kimi, Dad…and now Kimi's back. But for me, it was like a gift. Seeing my mother happy and active in her field of interest again was enough for me and I'm grateful for that."

"But Kimi felt betrayed and lied to, wasn't she?" Kouichi pressed.

"Yes, she did and I think she hated her father for that because it was him who insisted that her past must be kept a secret," Kyochi nodded, his eyes darken. "I hated him at first, too. Because when we all found out the truth, he tried to ban my mother and me from seeing Kimi ever again. But Lady Ren's father, Kimi's grandfather, wouldn't hear of it. He demanded that Kimi should have a little bit of freedom and that wanted me to come and visit often."

"What did she feel about you when you two first met?" Kouji asked.

"She seemed angry at first, but then…things just came together," Kyochi replied. He finally found the suit that matches Kouichi dirty ones and gave it to him. "You must understand, Kimi isn't as vicious as you think. True, Lady Ren's health has been better these days, but Kimi doesn't want anyone to hurt her. She's fierce and can be frightening, but under that façade of hers lays a kind heart."

"So why is she still here? I thought that her grandfather let her have some freedom," Kouji straightened up his back as he lean in closer to hear.

"It doesn't mean her entire freedom," Kyochi frowned in disappointment. "Not a lot of people know that Princess Kimberly is the same as Kimi Watsuki and barely anyone working outside of this mansion know that I'm her brother."

"But then how does Masaki-kun and Takashi-kun knows?" Kouichi solicited, one of his eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"Because they're my friends and their family had dealt business affairs with us before and still does," Kyochi nodded as he explained. "Takashi-kun's mother is a famous fashion designer, so he comes here sometimes and Masaki-kun's father works in a computer and gaming company so he does a few business with Lord James. Look, what I'm saying is that ever since moving here, Kimi suffered from severe cultural shock and loneliness."

"But doesn't she have you now?"

"I'm a medical student, I can't be with her all of the time, unfortunately," Kyochi shook his head sadly. "I tried to drop out so that I could be with her more often, but Mother wouldn't hear of it and Kimi didn't want me to, either."

"And her wrist injury?" Kouji asked.

"That…that was probably my fault, actually," Kyochi glanced down with a look of guilt on his face. Löwe came closer to him; butting his head on the boy's palm and Kyochi gently reached out and petted him. "We were able to convinced Lord James to let Kimi come with us to the Obon Festival as my sister instead of as the foreign princess. Kimi was feeling so lonely these days that we tried to help her by showing her a bit of our cultures. My friends and I thought that Obon would be perfect a perfect excuse to show her around a bit.

"On the day of the festival, Kimi was practicing some fencing with one of her cousins. I called out to her and she got distracted by me. That's when her cousin accidentally slashed at her wrist with the fencing foil. It wasn't a deep cut but it did bleed slightly. And Kimi…she just didn't feel like going with us after that, even after I bandaged up her wound."

"So she's still pissed off after that accident?" Kouji commented.

"Kouji!"

"Sorry, what I meant to say was that just because she got hurt and missed the festival, she decided to take it out on Nii-san and me?"

"You'll have to ask her about that yourself, I'm afraid," Kyochi smiled. Standing up, he walked towards the door and into his study, "I'll leave you two to change. We have to be downstairs in fifteen minutes." And with that, he closed the door behind him.

"Well, I guess we owe him," Kouichi smiled, taking off his dirty suit and replacing them with the one that Kyochi laid out for him. On the opposite side of the bed, Kouji was doing the same and he took off his ruined jacket of his suit.

"For what, Nii-san?" Kouji laughed sarcastically. "For nearly having his twin sister lashing out her anger at us?"

"I meant for Mom!" Kouichi scolded, folding his arms crossed. "Remember what he did for her, Kouji? Because of him, Mom's feeling better. I think that we should return the favor."

Kouji sighed and he shook his head.

"He's right, Kouji," Lobo whispered in a hushing tone, cautious in case Kyochi is listening. "The least you could do is tried to be nice to his sister and her family."

"What?" Kouji panted. "To her? Why should I?"

"Regardless of what she tried to do to us back there, it wasn't for ill-intention, Kouji!" Lobo lectured scornfully. "You two owe Kyochi for helping your poor, sick mother. You could show some gratitude by stop disapproving his sister and her family."

"Oh c'mon! She was being such a bitch!" Kouji snapped, keeping his voice down. "Kyochi is one person, I understand. I can tolerate him, but his rotten sister? She was the one who attacked us back there! You two were there, too, and now you're defending her?"

"Lobo's right, Kouji-kun," Löwe explained, keeping his tone softly and calmly. "Back there, she wasn't aiming to kill any of us. Lobo and I can sense evil intention and she doesn't have any. She just, unfortunately, mistook us for nosey journalists. After hearing Kyochi's side of the story, and I know that he wasn't lying, I think Kimi had suffered enough."

"Kouji, please," Kouichi let his hand touched his brothers, letting them intertwining each other gently as he pleaded softly under his breath that only Kouji could hear, "I need you to be nice to her and her family at least and we do owe Kyochi, still…if you won't do it for me, then will you do it for Mom?"

Kouji sighed heavily as he glanced at Lobo and Löwe sitting at the foot of Kyochi's bed. "Yeah, we do owe Kyochi a lot, I can understand that."

"And…?" Kouichi nodded, encouraging him.

"And I'll try not to get on Kimi's nerves, even though that would make me very happy," Kouji smirked.

"Kouji!"

Behind them, Lobo and Löwe laughed.

"So you guys are finished?" Kyochi asked, looking up from his files at his desk. Kouji and Kouichi came out, spit and clean in their borrowed suits with Lobo and Löwe at their heels.

"Yeah, thanks for the suit, Kyochi-sensei," Kouichi replied, adjusting his cuff links.

Kouji noticed that Kyochi was looking through some medical files and began to ask the dreaded question. "So…how's Ami doing?"

Kouichi and the guardian Knights looked up at the mention of Ami's name. Had there been any news about her, they had wondered. It felt as if it has been an eternity since they had last seen Ami.

"She's stabled, Kouji-kun," Kyochi smiled sadly. "But she's still comatose. My mother is looking after her condition while I'm here for today." He organized the stack of paper and placed them in the folder and put that same folder away in his drawers.

"I'm going back to the hospital tomorrow," said Kyochi. "Like I said, I'll tell you guys if there are any changes. So how's your blonde friend doing?"

"Izumi-chan?" Kouichi asked. "She's fine, I think. I believe she's at that book signing with Takuya and the others today."

"Ah, the one about that _Spiritual-HoLic_ series? Takashi and Masaki had been talking about that, too. Oh, it looks like it's going to rain, soon."

True to his words, there were dark clouds appearing in the distance as they all gazed out into the windows. Winds were picking up as it blew away the last remnants of spring. It seemed to be the last rainstorm of the season as summer was about to kick in. outside on the ground, servants were rushing here and there as they carried in dishes and chasing down flying table clothes.

"Yeah, I don't think we'll be dining outside today," Kouji remarked.

"We'll eat inside, then," Kyochi nodded as he smiled.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Kouichi noticed something shining and turned his head. Next to Kyochi's desk and sitting in the corner was a beautiful cello, it's fine stature leaning elegantly on a chair. "Kyochi-sensei, you can play the cello?"

"Huh? Oh that?" Kyochi noticed Kouichi staring at his cello. "Yeah, when I'm not busy, I take it out and play a bit a song or two with Kimi while she's on the piano. Do you two play any instruments?"

"Guitar," Kouji shrugged.

"I play a little bit of violin," Kouichi smiled with embarrassment. "Dad had been hiring a tutor for me these past two years. I'm not very good at it, though. So, shall we go?"

Kouichi, a bit flushed about his meager musical talent raced Lobo and Löwe up the stairs and out of the door. Kyochi saw this and laughed as he shook his head. "What was that about? I'm sure he plays just fine."

"Hey, Kyochi!" Kouji called out to him.

"Yes? What is it, Kouji?" Kyochi asked, turning around. At the same time, he backed up slowly on the stairs as Kouji followed him. "Is something the matter?"

"No, it's just that I want to thank you, that's all," Kouji shook his head as he tried to explain. He placed both of his hands inside of his pocket and posed casually. "…for helping our mother with her illness, that is. I guess I really owe you one. My mother is everything to me. I always repay my debts."

Kyochi smiled at his kindness as they both came up to the top the balcony that was overseeing his entire room. "You don't have to repay me, Kouji. I'm just glad that your mother's feeling better."

"Yes, but still," Kouji cut in. "I felt as though I should repay you. Listen, if there's a favor you need, anything you need at all, just let me know and I'll promise you that I'll do it if I could."

There was a paused at first, but then Kyochi smiled and placed his hand on Kouji's shoulder. "Thank you, Kouji. I'll keep that in mind. But we can discuss about it later. But for now, let's eat. Everyone is probably waiting for us already."

"Yeah, let's go."

**Author's notes: Sorry that I had to take this chapter down a few hours ago. The second half of it was missing and I had to re-edit it.**

**At last, Kyochi's mysterious twin sister, Kimi, has made her formal debut!**

**A few notes for readers:**

**Kimberly Clairebourne is Kimi's adopted name. Her real name is Kimi Watsuki.**

**At the moment, Kimi and Kouji aren't fond of each other because of their encountering with each other. Kimi is a bit like Kouji at most of the time. They don't get along at first, Kimi has a few important roles to play in this story.**

**The Kimi that Kouichi claimed to have spied on him at the restaurant at the end of chapter three: "The Strangers" isn't this Kimi. More likely, it was Gali, the Oracle, eating there in the form of Kimi. Her reason for doing it is still unknown.**

**Where is Dusk? Right now, he's off somewhere, desperately looking for a temporary body with a weak but dark heart to possess as he licked his wounds. So yes, he's in hiding right now, but he will be back and stronger than ever before.**

**The wrist wound on Kimi's left wrist was mentioned by Masaki and Takashi near the end of chapter ten: "News Strike". It was the main reason that Kimi refused to attend the Obon Festival with her brother and his friends and the reason why Takuya and the others hadn't met her yet.**

**The part where Kimi cried out for help was a reference from Avatar: The Last Airbender when Aang and his friend first met Toph for the first time.**

**The reason that I delayed Kimi's appearance into this story is because I was worried that she might turn out too much of a Mary Sue and people might hate her. So I delayed her appearance in order to have time and slowly introduce he via her brother and his friends. She's not a perfect character. She is human, and like all human, she has some flaws and weaknesses, such as her injured wrist. She's an excellent fighter but even she can get her butt kicked by someone like Kouji.**

**-hime is the Japanese suffix for princess. Kouichi formally addresses Kimi as Kimberly-hime or Kimi-hime because her adopted father is the current Duke of Lusteria.**

**Lusteria is a made up country in Europe for this story. I'ts a small but wealthy country somewhere near the coast. Its name means "to shine". And yes, Lusteria is the same kingdom of Lusteria from Prince James and Jason's timeline.**

**And **_**yakuza **_**are members of Japanese crime organization syndicates. Kinda like the Italian malfia.**

**Next chapter…don't know when that will be up…next month or earlier perhaps?**

**Please read and leave a review for feedback as they do encouraged me to think of more ideas and write faster.**


	18. The Writer of SpiritualHoLic

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violences**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Seventeen: The Writer of **_**Spiritual-HoLic**_

The day started out as bright and sunny at first. The sun broke away the misty fog of the early morning as it rose higher into the sky. Things seemed to look a lot brighter now that Dusk was banished from Kouichi's body. But Lobo and Löwe knew that it was too soon to celebrate. Despite Kouichi's strength and ability to pushed Dusk away from his mind and thought, they all knew that Dusk wasn't completely gone.

Without a container, Dusk's wispy soul was weaker and with the sunlight shining, he had to take cover in the darkness. But at the very least, he was a bit stronger than before, due to his consumption of blood that he had acquired with the Kouichi's unaware help. But Dusk knew that he must obtain the boy's body again before the full lunar eclipse that was weeks away. Only the boy's vessel was capable of handling the power of darkness vested in Dusk's soul can he hoped to find his real body. Despite being immortal in soul, it weakens him without his real body.

_Blasted! That damn witch whom had hidden my real body somewhere and without it, I won't be able to find the Galis Star…my destiny…_Dusk thought, lingering in the shadows as he watched the twins getting into a long, black vehicle with their parents and their two Guardian Knights.

For a while, Dusk followed the twins and their Guardian Knights from afar, making sure to keep his distances away from Lobo and Löwe's acute senses. The last thing that he wanted right now was them trying to foil his plans again. All the while, Dusk followed them into the Clairebournes' home and into Lord James Clairebourne's office. He followed them as they got lost and wandered around the estate. And when they went into the garden maze, he watched them from afar.

But as he continued to observe, Dusk began to think up of another plot into controlling Kouichi's body again. But he knew that it would take more time since his host was now aware of him and the situation. He'll have to plan carefully…_but with that brother of his and those two imbeciles, I will never get a chance to get close enough in order to overpower him. I need to find a way to break them apart…I'll need a…_

Suddenly, something caught his attention. Dusk drifted a bit closer to see what was going on as he hid himself in the shade of the hedges. There appeared to be a fierce looking girl fighting with the twins. _Hmm…how interesting_, Dusk thought as he watched the girl fought with such skill and ferocity. Dusk scrutinized the situation more intently as thing escalated. He began to take interest as he noticed the relationship forming among them as the girl's brother came into the picture. It appeared that she has her own twin brother, too, and he seems to be an acquaintance of Kouji and Kouichi.

Watching the girl named Kimi, walking away and towards the manor, Dusk continued to watch the three boys and their little pets. He followed them as they talked away into the building and into the other boy's royal-liked room. It appeared that this boy helped cared for Kouji and Kouichi's birth mother and is currently watching over his first victim, Ami, as she lay unconscious in the local hospital. As he listened in, Dusk began to found out more and more about that Kimi…the nobleman's daughter. Hearing from Kyochi's story of her sad and lonely past, Dusk's mind began to plow the seed of destruction. He knew what he needed. _A pawn…_he thought. _I'll need a pawn to help me break up those two's bond. She'll force Kouji farther and farther away from his one and only dear brother. And when the time is right, Kouichi will soon realize how cruel women can be and will once again submit to my power…for his own revenge…_

* * *

The mall is always a place where people love to shop for clothes, jewelries, books, games, and even food. Usually there's always a special occasion where there are sales or holidays shows for the customers. And so the mall is always packed. But today there are even more people from all around a lot more than usual. It's not the Christmas shopping spree, nor the special events during the near end of the summer. In fact, the local bookstores inside the mall are holding a miniature fair in honor of the final release of best-selling _Spiritual-HoLic_. The series debuted about four years ago as fans gathered for the exciting fountain of knowledge about the spiritual worlds around them. The series offered insights and tells the story of boy who can see spirits and how he met a woman who can help him changed his fate, or at least face it well enough. Along the way, he ran into spirits and he had to learn how to face them and what to do to dispel them.

It wasn't just the bookstores that were packed. In fact, most stores around were displaying their own special events as well as the ones that are contributing with the author's success. These stores were also crowded but there was one that was especially teeming with kids and it's not contributing anything with _Spiritual-HoLic_'s success. In fact, it was release a new video game in a series that was just as popular. Among the throngs of video games-loving adults, teens, and kids, were two familiar faces we know too well.

Junpei and Tomoki were waiting. Besides waiting for the line in front of them to move, they were also waiting for their friends.

"How long do you think they'll get here, Junpei?" Tomoki asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Takuya and Izumi?" Junpei asked, taking a bite out of a small sandwich that he had gotten at the snack bar. Upon seeing the long line, he wanted to be prepared. "Hopefully before this store runs out of the games that you wanted so badly. Are you sure this is worth it?"

"Positive. You should really try playing it sometime, Junpei. I know that you like magic tricks during your spare time, but c'mon! There's just some things in life that you just have to indulge, too!" Tomoki teased, biting into his own small snack in order to avoid hunger while waiting in the long line.

"Ha, ha. Very funny, little man," Junpei replied back, giving his friend a friendly nudge in the shoulder. "If it has some cool special effects, then why not, I'll give it a try. And besides, the only other reason that I'm here is because I promise to get my mom a copy of the book that they're selling."

"Yeah…didn't Izumi mention that she's getting another copy for…Ami…?" Tomoki lowered his voice and they grimly took on to the subject.

"Hey, cheer up! I'm sure Ami will be fine! After all, we got that doctor lady and her son watching over her, right?"

"Kyochi-kun?" Tomoki blinked.

"You're already calling him that after only a few days of knowing him?" Junpei asked.

"Why not? After all, he's our friend, too," Tomoki replied. "At least, he seems to be our friend."

"Yeah, I agree. I don't really like him that much, though."

"Why, just because he's a bit different from us?" Tomoki asked.

"Well different or not, he better help Ami for Izumi-chan's sake or so help me, I'm gonna make his life a living hell. If you're asking me, I think he could also be trouble for us."

"Um…what do you mean, Junpei?" Tomoki raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Did you see the way _she _looked at him since we first ran into Kyochi a few nights ago? I think Izumi got a thing for him!"

"Oh c'mon, Junpei. You're just being paranoid. I'm sure she was just being friendly with Kyochi-kun." Tomoki replied.

"Oh yeah, sure," Junpei replied sarcastically. "Like I didn't know. He may be know-it-all jerk for all I care!"

"Why, Junpei! How could you say that about him!" said a voice behind him, causing him to freeze on the spot. Turning around, he saw an insulted face of Izumi with both of her arms on her hips.

"Izumi-chan!" Junpei stumbled back, bumping into a few people in line and causing them to scold him as he apologized. "How long were you standing there?"

"Long enough to hear you say that a certain friend could be trouble for us," said Takuya, stepping out from behind Izumi, his arms folded.

"I mean, really!" Izumi scolded him. "I can't believe you would say something like that about Kyochi-kun, and after he has tried to do so much for us and for our friend, Ami!"

Junpei seemed to be even more embarrassed as he noticed that a few people were staring at the commotion that he had caused. "Can we talk about this later, Izumi-chan?"

"Fine, Takuya and I will be at the book signing," Izumi sighed, shaking her head. "We'll meet up at the food court on the third floor."

"There's going to be a really long line, though," Tomoki pointed out. "Is it okay if we asked you to pick up our copies? We'll give you the money for them!"

"Sure thing, we'll be happy to pick them up for you two," Izumi said, then looked up at Junpei and gave him a sarcastic smile. "Even though I don't think you deserved my favor."

Junpei scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he watched Tomoki handing Izumi their share of yens. "The books are under our names, 'kay?"

Izumi nodded as she watched Tomoki and Junpei walking into the game store as the line moved. Turning to Takuya, she smiled, "So? Shall we go?"

"Yeah, sure," Takuya replied, hiding his blushing face from her.

Considering the incredibly long line at the bookstore in order to pick up their books, Takuya and Izumi were lucky enough to by-passed it along with those who had special pre-ordered their copies months beforehand. This earned them a pass to cut through the lines and be among those who don't have to wait long.

Takuya and Izumi bought enough copies for themselves and their friends as they waited for the author to come on stage that was set up at the front of the store.

"Did you remember to get one for…you know, Ami?" Takuya asked, lowering his voice as he mentioned Ami for fear of upsetting Izumi. But to his surprise, Izumi smiled at him.

"Of course I have, you goggle-head!" She laughed. "Look, don't you give me that worried face, too, Takuya! After all, you're the one who told me to find the strength to continue! I have to try to be cheerful for my sake and for my friend. And I trust Kyochi-kun completely."

"Yeah, after getting to know him a bit, it feels like you can trust him to help her through and through," Takuya agreed.

"Why, Takuya!" Izumi teased lightly. "Just a few days ago at the fair, you called him a punk who stole her favorite fireworks-watching spot! What made you changed your mind about him?"

"Okay, okay, I admit, I didn't like the guy at first," Takuya confessed. "But after seeing what happened, he seemed like the kind of person whom you can rely on. I really think he can help Ami…"

"…but we have to believe in him, right?" Izumi asked.

"Right, that's all we can do now. And Kyochi-kun has my cell phone number. He promised to call if there are any changes," Izumi said. "Right now, we can at least enjoy our time here at the mall with our friends. If Ami know that we're just brooding and worrying because of her, she would feel that it's her fault and I don't what to make her feel that way."

Izumi began to rubbed her left shoulder, feeling the heavy weight of the books that she had just bought weighing down in her purse. Takuya noticed this and offered to carry some of the books for her. Izumi thanked him with a pretty smile, and Takuya blushed yet again.

_Why am I feeling this way? _Takuya thought, turning his head away from his friend. _We're just friends, right? There can't be anything going on between us, right? We're just friends and we should stay that way!_

"Takuya, is something the matter?" Izumi asked curiously.

"Um, nothing at all!" Takuya blurted out, causing her to hide a giggle behind a hand. Trying to find something to distract her, Takuya pointed towards the stage. "Um, hey! What's going on s-stage?"

Izumi turned around to see where he was pointing, and sure enough, a man came out towards the microphone and began to make an announcement.

"Oh, she's here, Takuya! The author of _Spiritual-HoLic_!" Izumi squealed with excitement as Takuya smiled. In that moment, Takuya saw that his friend was as cheerful and she was before. He hated to see any of his friends sad, and Izumi was no exception.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you our special guest," the shopping district manager announced in a booming voice. "…a woman who had captivated people with a sense of spiritualities, mystery, and an air of mystic in her tales of the occults and superstition, Kaze-sama!"

At his welcoming gesture, a woman stepped up to the stage as the audience clapped and cheered. The author of the hit-superstitious series was a young and beautiful woman. Her hair was long and violet as well were her eyes. Kaze had her long hair tied up with butterfly-pins keeping it in place and she was also wearing a simple, yet elegant, purple kimono with butterfly patterns respectfully.

As the author faced the microphone, she smiled and then looked about at her fans kindly. When her deep, violet eyes came upon Takuya and Izumi, she stopped and winked at them mysteriously. The woman came closer to the mic-stand and thanked the shopping district manager before she spoke.

"My dear people," Kaze began as the crowd hushed to hear her speak. Even her voice sounded enchanting and soft as the summer breeze. "I am pleased and honored that such a great number of you had taken such interest in my spellbinding series. When I first started out, I only had what I had learned from the past along with my friend. I never dreamt the days would have come when I would be writing down about what I feel. The infinite spiritual world out there is connected deep within our heritage. Its world and that of our own is as mysterious as it can be.

"Despite what others may say, there is one thing important that I have learned many years ago. By putting down what I had learn and know into paper and ink, I can hope to share it with all of you and perhaps someday, you'll learn to understand to appreciate what you have, mourn what you have lost, and hoped what you have gained. But I regret to say that most of you will not be able to see more of what's lurking out there. What had happened in the past will continue to connect to all of use, despite many reincarnations. In light of things, we are all simply…connected by the inevitable.

"I will sadly say that this is my last book of _Spiritual-HoLic_—"

Before she could finish, the fans in the crowd cried in disappointment after the waves of confused looks passed them from her strange speech. Kaze raised her hand to silence them and they did after a moment of quick hushing and sighing.

"Please, let me finished," Kaze continued, putting down her hand. "I know that many of you had written letters and sent me e-mails asking me to write more. But I am afraid that this story has come to an end. Nothing last forever, everyone, not even this series that you had all taken a liking to so much. But I will however reveal to you all that I will be writing a brand new series soon and hoped that it, too, shall also capture your attentions."

At the sound of this, the crowd began to talked and buzzed with questions and gossips once again.

"There's going to be another series by Kaze-sama?" Izumi asked.

"I don't know. Sure is like that, since the author herself is confirming it," Takuya replied just as blankly as his friend's question.

"What type of series is it going to be, Kaze-sama?" A journalist behind the two of them asked, raising his recorder for his report. "Can you give us a hint, please?"

"Yes! Can you give us a hint or a vague idea on what's going to be about?" asked another journalist, this time a woman.

"I won't reveal much but I will try my best, dear people," Kaze replied. "It's about how a series of strange nightmares are tying a young boy inexplicably with a series of gruesome murders and he and his brother are plagued with feelings of frightening déjà vu. And the secret to both mysteries are lying somewhere in their lost memories of past lives. This story is based on the historical facts and legendary tales from a European country called Lusteria. One which that perhaps two or more of my fans may know of."

At the mention of this statement, Kaze winked mysteriously, yet also playfully, in Takuya and Izumi's direction, sending a bit of chills down their spines.

Takuya and Izumi gave each other confused looks as the crowds continued to question the writers more about her next series.

"Takuya? You don't think that she was…" Izumi began.

"…that maybe she was referring to us?" Takuya nodded. "I get the feeling that this writer is trying to tell us something."

"I know and it feels like she knows us and the way she talked…doesn't she remind you of someone, Takuya?"

"Yeah, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that this best-selling author has some sort of connection to that Oracle Gali from the Obon festival!" Takuya suggested.

"And when she mentioned that her next story will be based on some European nation's history and legend, it…it sounds very familiar, Takuya. In fact, it sounds just like my..." Izumi trailed off, unable to finish her sentence as she realized the connection.

But alas, Takuya came to finish it for her as he said, "It sounds like your Obon ghost story, doesn't it, Izumi? The one about the vampire and the two royal princes? Frankly, I don't think that this is coincidence."

"You're right, and come to think of it," Izumi began, "I think Tomoki-kun was right. The fortune that I got from Gali, that Oracle from the festival about an adventure that I'm taking this summer…Takuya, I think that it's starting."

At the mention of this, they turned their attentions back to Kaze as she finished answering a few questions from the audience and spoke once more.

"In the next moment, I will be signing any copies of my last _Spiritual-HoLic _books that you might have gotten. If any of you wishes to ask me a few personal questions face to face, then I dare to welcome you to do it and see how it all goes. Now, shall we get started?"

"Um…thank you very much, Kaze-sama," said the shopping district manager as he took back the mike from her and watched her exiting the stage. "Um, now please, let's give a round of applause for the lovely Kaze-sama and let's hoped that she'll be back if her next series is a smash hit. Now, everyone please follow the guards' order to follow them to the signing table. There will be free refreshment stands nearby when you're done."

As the crowd slowly subsided to the outside, Takuya and Izumi followed suit.

"So, do you think we should ask her?" Takuya gaze at Izumi, wondering what she'll say.

"I think so, after all, it couldn't hurt to try, right?" Izumi replied, tugging at her copies of the author's books in her hand. "There's something that she knows and I think she wants to tell us something. That's probably why she said that she dared us to come and ask her during the book-signing."

"If we're right, then this is going to be a hell of a summer adventure for the both of us," Takuya nodded in agreement as they both got in line and waited for their turn.

By the time the person in front of them moved on with her precious copy of the last book of the series, Izumi and Takuya stepped forward and handed the author their copies for her to sigh. Kaze looked up and smiled at them with her violet eyes.

Suddenly, a lush feeling of nostalgia overcame Izumi's and Takuya's body as if they were standing in a field of grass and flowers with the wind gently tickling their cheeks and brushing their hair. At that moment, they both knew, that this woman…the author of the hit mystery series…Kaze-sama is also a very powerful witch like Gali.

Yes, this was starting to become an interesting summer indeed…

**Author's note: I apologized for the long wait but I was busy with so many things like college and other projects that's been taking up all of my time. But I'll try my best to get the next chapter up in a few more weeks. But just to let you all know, I'm hitting another major writer's block. I promise you that I'm not quitting on this story…not until it's finished. I'll manage to bypass this writer's block sooner or later.**

**I decided to write a side story about Takuya and Izumi this time and it was a good way to introduce Kaze, the mysterious author of **_**Spiritual-HoLic**_**! Yes, she's based from Kazemon, Izumi's Human Spirit form as a Legendary Warrior of Wind. Originally, this chapter was supposed to be longer, but it got too long so once again, I had to cut it into two. But don't worry, we'll get back to Kouji and Kouichi soon. But this side story is important because I'm planning on connecting them all together. And yes, Dusk isn't dead. He's still out there waiting and plotting his next evil scheme. There's so much I want him to do and it's all so evil!**


	19. We Are With You!

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Eighteen: "We Are With You!"**

"What are your names?" said the author as Takuya and Izumi both approached her.

"Huh? Oh, um…I'm Takuya Kanbara!" Takuya stuttered at first. As soon as he and his friend approached the book signing table, he got nervous and for good reasons, too! Usually people would be eager and excited when they're meeting a famous person. But after what had just happened a few moments ago, Takuya and Izumi's excitement was replaced by nervousness. Before the book signing of the bestseller's Spiritual-HoLic, its author, Kaze, made a very mysterious speech. In her speech, Kaze mentioned about writing another series based on a famous legend from the European nation of Lusteria. She then noted specifically that there were perhaps two people in the sea of fans who might be very familiar with its legend. By winking mysteriously at Takuya and Izumi's direction after saying this, she implied that she knew who they are.

As they approached the book signing table a few moments later, the two children suddenly felt a flush of mysterious aura coming from the author's gaze. It was nearly the same feeling they'd gotten when they had met Gali the Oracle on that night at the festival. Unlike Gali's aura that reminded them of the deep ocean, Kaze's aura from her gaze reminded them of a windy day in a field of flowers.

The author appeared to be a young woman. They couldn't guess her age but it felt as though she's as old as Gali…perhaps. Almost everything about this woman was in violet or purple. Her hair was long and violet, tied up and held together with butterfly-shaped hairpins. Butterflies also decorated her purple kimono wrapped in a mint-green obi sash. As Takuya introduced himself, Kaze smiled mysteriously at him with her violet eyes.

"Takuya, huh?" She said, putting out her hands, gesturing the two of them to give her the books which they'd bought. "And you must be…?"

"I-Izumi, ma'am!" Izumi blurted out nervously as she handed the author her copies of the book. "My name is Izumi Orimoto! It's an honor to meet you, Kaze-sama!"

"I'm honored to meet you two as well. So, I see that you've bought a lot of my final copies. I'm guessing either you've enjoyed them so much that you've decided to get more than one copy for yourselves…or you could be just running errands for your friends whom are waiting for you at the food court. Is that right?" Kaze smiled possessed a hint of a sly one as she began to sign the books, addressing to the people who will be able to hold it in their hands sooner or later.

Takuya and Izumi noticed that she began to address to Junpei and Tomoki's mothers and to Ami as she wrote down their names and signed it with her own. How is it that this woman knew these people's name when Takuya and Izumi hadn't told her yet! As she finished signing the one for Izumi, Kaze gave her the book and winked.

"I see that you are surprised. Are you enjoying my books so much?" she asked.

"Um…w-well, yes! But it's not just that! How is it that you know who these books are for when we haven't even told you their names?" Takuya whispered as he collected the already sighed books. He doesn't want the people behind him listening in as he lowered his voice.

"Are you a…um…a…?" Izumi began but couldn't find the right word to put it together even though it's all there.

"An oracle like Gali? No. I'm something a bit different, if I might say," Kaze replied. "As you can see, I don't have a shallow cauldron of water to predict your futures now, do I? I believed that was the method of fortune-telling that Gali had used two nights ago when you met her at the Obon festival, am I right?"

Taukya and Izumi's eyes were wide opened in surprised. It seems that this woman can also…

"Y-you can read our minds?" Izumi asked nervously.

"If that's what you think," Kaze replied.

"Excuse me," said one of the security guards. "But if you're done chatting, would you mind letter the line behind you move. There are other people waiting."

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that!" Izumi apologized as she and Takuya gathered all of the signed books into their bags. "Um, thank you again for the books. I hoped that I'll be able to enjoy your next series. Good luck writing them!"

"Thank you," Kaze smiled.

Takuya and Izumi were about to leave until they heard Kaze's voice again. "And good luck with your friend! I hoped that your friend, Kyochi-kun can help her. You might want to be prepared for what he's going to say later."

Takuya and Izumi turned around in shock. This woman knew that Izumi's friend, Ami, is in the hospital and she knew that Kyochi-kun is treating her. But before they could question her further, they were pushed gently out of the line as the people behind them got their books out for Kaze to sign. Giving each other confused looks, they both head for the food court to tell Junpei and Tomoki what they've seen.

* * *

"Okay! Okay! Now tell us again, you two," Junpei asked, putting two more French fries in his mouth. "Explain exactly what she was like again? You mentioned that she's just like that Oracle lady, right?"

"Not really, Junpei," Takuya replied after taking a sip from soft drink. "She mentioned that she's a bit different than Gali."

"How are they different?" Tomoki asked curiously, looking up from his bitten cheeseburger. "From what've you described; it sounds as though they're one and the same person!"

"Maybe, but I'm not so sure, Tomoki-kun," said Izumi, looking over her own signed copy of Kaze's novel. "Do you guys remember what it felt like that night when we went inside Gali's tent and got our fortunes told?"

"How could we not? It was one of the most life-changing experienced we've ever seen!"

"I meant the kind of feelings that the Oracle gives off when we met her face to face!" Izumi said, closing the cover of the book and putting it away in her bag. "I remembered that her eyes were like an endless sea. It was as if her, um…aura, reminded me of the ocean."

"And what about it?" Junpei asked.

"Well, when we met Kaze face to face," Takuya began to described the details. "It felt as if her eyes and aura give you a sense of a windy day."

"It was as if her aura would remind you of a breezy and windy day while you're standing in a field of flowers," Izumi added in. She picked up a piece of her chicken nugget, dipped it into ketchup and bit off one of its ends. "So because of their auras, I don't think that they're the same person."

"Okay, so Kaze's different than Gali. But she seems to know a lot about us, too, right?" Tomoki asked.

"Yeah, and when we gave her the books that you told us to buy for you, she wrote down your mothers' names before we even got the chance to tell her who they were for! She even wrote down Ami's name and she knows that Ami's in the hospital!" Izumi's eyes lit up as she tried to tell her friends.

"Okay, I get that knowing that these copies were for our moms," Junpei said after putting another few of French fries in his mouth. "But she couldn't have known Ami's name from watching the news!"

"But how would that explain us knowing Ami and that I'm a friend of hers?" Izumi pointed out. "Surely the news media wouldn't have known about that!"

"You've got a point there, Izumi-chan," Junpei nodded.

"But there was also this other thing that she'd said that made my skin crawled!" Takuya mentioned, holding up one finger for their attentions.

"And what's that?"

"Kaze said that she hoped that Kyochi-kun would be able to save Ami," Izumi replied solemnly. "She even knew that Kyochi-kun works there and that he's the one treating Ami."

"So I guess it's true, then," Tomoki placed his almost finished cheeseburger down as he thought over the things his friends had described. "I guess…magic does exist."

"Man, this is some was to start a summer vacation, huh, guys?" Junpei added.

The four of them were quiet for a moment as the busy surroundings around them continued on throughout the mall. Their half eaten lunch scattered across the table and the ice cubes slowly melted in their soft drinks. Izumi was the first to break the silence.

"What made me concern the most was what she said to us as we were leaving, guys," said Izumi. "She said something like, 'You might want to be prepared for what he's going to say later,' right after Takuya and I were leaving."

"What do you think she meant by that?" Junpei asked.

"I don't really now and that's why I'm a bit worried."

"Maybe she meant that Kyochi-kun will call you, Izumi-chan!" Tomoki commented. "Did you give him your cell phone neighbors?"

"I'm afraid of what he's going to say," Izumi fiddled with her bendy straw, stirring her half empty cup of soft drinks. "The way she said it, it sounds as though things won't turn out well."

Before any of the boys could reply or comment on that matter, they suddenly heard of a commotion by a group of kids eating at a table next to them.

"Hey, have you guys heard about that latest attack that happened last night?" A boy with a pair of goggles like Takuya asked. "It was all over the news this morning!"

"Are you making this up like last time, goggle-head?" a tomboyish girl with reddish brown hair replied.

"I'm serious, Ruki-chan!" The first boy defended. "Remember that earlier attack after the Obon Festival when they found that girl?"

"Yeah, I heard about that, too. The weird thing was that her body was drained a bit of blood and that there were no sign of physical wounds," replied the second boy.

"Yeah, that's right, Jenrya-kun!" the first boy commented, "and remember what the police said what they'd found at the crime scene? A bunch of broken glasses from the street lights were scattered everywhere!"

"Ooh, how spooky!" The girl, Ruki, replied with a snide remark. "The next thing you guys are going to tell me is that a vampire attacked that girl."

"Actually, no one really knows what happened and it's still a mystery, Ruki," said the third boy. "So what were you saying, Takato?"

The first boy, Takato, continued right where he'd left off before. "Okay, so as I was saying, there was another attack just like that one on that girl last night. But this time, the attack happened on the pier close to the Odaiba island! But the victim was a full, grown man!"

"Wow, so what about it?" asked the third boy.

"Well, when they found him this morning, the crime scene was exactly like the one where they'd found the girl, Ryo-kun!" Takato replied with both excitement and awed. "The street lights on the pier were all shattered and the glasses were everywhere! And the victim also lost a lot of blood. He was drained, guys! Don't you see? The police found him drained but there were no physical wounds on the body! Coincidence? I doubt it."

"Are you telling us that this might be the start of a series of attempted murder?" Ruki asked, now a little bit concerned herself.

"Maybe! It could be possible," Jenrya replied, dipping his fries into ketchup. "I mean, the two cases are exactly the same. The victims were attacked by someone or something, their bodies drained mostly of blood, no physical wounds were found, and both crime scenes has nothing but shattered glasses from the street lights? This could be serious."

"Did they say anything about the victim, Takato?"

"I only know that he was working as a fish merchant," Takato replied.

Before Takato could say anything more, Ryo noticed something as he stared up at one of the television sets that were hang up on the ceiling for the customers to view while eating.

"Hey guys, look!" said Ryo as he pointed at the screen. His friends as well as Takuya, and the others looked up at the screen to see what he was pointing at. It appeared to be one of the local news channels that were broadcasting live. "I think they're talking about it!"

"We interrupt this program with breaking news," said one of the news anchormen as a staff member handed him a sheet of paper from the side line. "This just came in: The victim, Kenji Tanaka-san, age 49, had just passed away in the emergency room at the local hospital. Reports flooded in this morning that the victim was discovered at one of the piers near the man-made island of Odaiba. Policemen and medical doctors are baffled by the scene of the crime. Doctors claimed that Tanaka-san died from the lost of blood. But there were no sign of physical wounds to the body. The only evidence that detectives and policemen found were the remains of shattered glasses from the surrounding street lights.

"Reports just came in that this was only the second attack after the first one near the Shibuya district. The first attack occurred a few hours after the local Obon Festival. The first victim was 15 year old girl, Ami, whom was also found nearly drain of blood. Policemen and detectives assumed that these two cases are somehow connected and they have reasons to believe that this could be the start of a serial murder. So far, there are no words from the Beika Hospital to determine the girl's condition. So we are unsure if she will survive this ordeal…"

"He's…he's dead?" Takato said in astonishment. "Man, this is scary."

"I guess you weren't kidding yourself, goggle-head," Ruki replied solemnly. Her eyes were ice-cold, but not from her usual self, but from fear the dwells deep in herself.

"We better get out of here," Ryo suggested, standing up as he put on his jacket. "It looks like a storm is coming and we better get home before it started."

"I'm with you, Ryo-kun," Jenrya agreed as he and his friends stood up and left the restaurant.

Takuya faced his friends as they watched those kids left. Izumi's face seemed to be in anguish when she and her friends heard of the man's fate on TV.

"He's…he's dead…that man didn't survived…"Izumi stuttered, her eyes were on the verge of sprouting tears. "If he didn't survive, then Ami's…Ami could…"

"No, don't say it, Izumi! Don't you dare say it, Izumi!" Takuya warned her. "That was just him, not Ami! We can be sure if she'll suffer the same fate like him. You heard it yourself that no one knows about Ami's condition yet. So don't you dare go and assume that she's dead now, too! There's still a chance, Izumi. We just have to trust Kyochi-kun."

"Takuya's right, Izumi-chan," Junpei tried to reassure her. "We don't know what will happen next, but for now, it seems that Ami's in good hands. If something happens, we'll just have to be ready for it."

"That's what I'm worried about, guys," Izumi said. A few tears fell. Izumi took the hems of her sleeves and wiped them away. "Kaze advised us to be ready for what Kyochi-kun will say. The truth is that I'm afraid of what he's going to say if what she's saying is true."

"Why are we taking the words of some fortune-tellers for it?" Junpei questioned. "Shouldn't we be deciding our futures?"

"I think it's because so far, Gali-san hasn't been wrong in her predictions yet," Takuya replied sternly. "I know it's weird and that we shouldn't treat these things at heart, but under the circumstances, things are getting more and more serious."

"And it seems that it's not just Gali-san who can predict our futures," Tomoki agreed. "You guys mentioned that the author, Kaze-san, seems to be able to do the same thing, although a bit differently, as you would have putted it."

"But we don't even know her that well!" Junpei cut him. "How can we be so sure if any of this is real? What if it's all just a coincidence? How can they know what's really going to happen? There's no magic in this world, is there?"

Junpei sounded a bit unsure of himself, despite his doubts in the two fortune-tellers' abilities. Before any of them could answer, there was a humming sound. It was coming from Izumi's handbag. She opened it and took out her pink cell phone as it vibrated in her hand. Izumi looked at the caller's ID on the screen. Her eyes widened in fear as she saw the caller's name.

"It's…it's Kyochi-kun!" Izumi said, her voice shaking.

"Well, looks like we're going to find out for ourselves if Kaze and Gali are really magical. Go ahead, Izumi. Answer it." Takuya gave her nod.

Izumi nodded in return as she flips the lid of her phone open. "H-hello? Kyochi-kun? Um…yes, I'm fine, we were just taking about you! How's Ami-chan?"

Izumi was quiet for a while as her three friends lean in to hear. They were all anxious to hear what's happening. There was an air of fear. They were all afraid. They were afraid that the news would turn to grim. They were afraid to hear that Ami was dead…perhaps dead just like that second victim at the pier. For a while, Izumi was silent as she listened to Kyochi on the other side of the line. Her face was expressionless and her friends couldn't tell what was going on. Then, after another minute or two, Izumi smiled weakly.

"Thank you, Kyochi-kun, I…I appreciate you telling me. I guess I'll see you soon. Say hi to those two for me," she said, hanging up her phone. Placing her cell phone on the table, she let out a big sigh.

"Well?" Her friends pressed her anxiously. "What did he say? Is Ami-chan okay? What happened?"

"He said…he said that Ami-chan is stabled. She's recovering, but only a little bit by bit," Izumi smiled a bit sadly.

The others let out sighs of relief from the good news. "Okay, that was a bit scary!" said Tomoki. "I guess we now know what Kaze meant when she told you to be prepared for what Kyochi-kun was going to say."

"I'm still a bit worried about Ami-chan, guys," Izumi admitted. "True, even though Kyochi-kun said that she's getting a bit better, I'm still afraid especially after what we had just seen on the television screen. It happened to that man, guys. He was a victim like Ami, too, but he died instead. I'm still afraid that Ami might not make it…"

"Hey, c'mon!" Takuya tried to reassure his friend. "Izumi, it's normal to worry about her, but if you kept on like this, you'll be off worse for her and for us. I told you, you've got to find the strength to keep going for your friend's sake! If we knew anything about Ami, for sure we do know that she doesn't like to see you or any of her friends like this. So stop crying and try to think positively!"

"Yeah, Izumi-chan!" Tomoki agreed. "We always knew you were the one to have the most optimism in the group! You can't give in now. After all, Kyochi-kun called and said that Ami-chan is getting a bit better. That's a clear sign that there's still hope!"

"Yeah, Izumi-chan," Junpei added, giving her a warm smile. Turning to the other two, he asked them silently to see if they agreed, which is obviously, they do. "None of us like to see you sad. If one of us is sad, then the rest of us are, too. We're each others' family away from home."

"Whatever happens, we're with each other, Izumi-chan," Takuya reminded her with a kind, yet stupid-looking, big grin. "We're all with ya, Izumi. And yes, that includes Kouichi and his insensitive twin, too!"

"You guys!" Izumi smiled. She was deeply touched by her friend's devotion and willingness to bare the pain and suffering with her. "I love you all!"

* * *

There was a small moment among them gone unnoticed by those who passed by them and around them. Only one person in the entire mall was watching these children from afar. Kaze smiled as she looked down at them from floor above them. "And so their adventures begin," she smiled, as she left the mall. "A journey made together will end well together. This will perhaps be the start of a very dangerous yet wonderful adventure for those children, right Gali?"

A few miles away at Gali's home, Gali smiled as she nodded in agreement from hearing her friend's voice from afar. "Shall we give them a little bit of a hand, Kaze-chan?"

"Of course, Gali-chan!" Kaze giggled, standing on top of the mall. Down below, she continued to watch Izumi and her friends getting ready to leave the mall. Above her were the incoming clouds of a storm. The news forecast had predicted clear skies earlier yesterday, but unfortunately for them, Gali and Kaze had other plans in mind. Taking her position on the rooftop, Kaze chanted a few incantation spells. Raising her hand she summoned gusts of strong winds to blow the dark clouds, bringing the storm closer and closer into Tokyo. Then, with a wave of one hand, the violet-haired woman summoned a weaker gust of wind down below her towards the kids. Takuya and his friends wrapped their arms around themselves, pulling their coats closer in for warmth. But suddenly the wind caught Izumi's hat and carried it away.

Kaze smiled as she watches Takuya and Izumi chasing after it, leaving both Junpei and Tomoki behind to laugh…at least Tomoki was laughing. Junpei wasn't because of his slight jealousy. Kaze directed the wind to carry the hat to a certain direction into the north. Turning to the east where the storm clouds are getting closer and closer, she nodded.

"It's time that I give them a little bit of insight on something," Kaze said.

"Of course," Gali agreed. "I've already spoke to the twins a little bit and Lobo and Lowe had done their jobs well, even to this point."

"Yes, but those two down there," Kaze indicated to Takuya and Izumi, who were still running after her hat. "Those two are about to play a part of their own in this game as well. I assumed that you're about ready to go, Gali-chan?"

"As soon as you're done, I'll get started," Gali laughed. "In times like this, nature must lend a hand for a certain element to start…the element of love."

"Then I guess it's time for me to _fan_ the flames!" With that said and done, Kaze stepped forward and leaped off of the edge of the building. With her words enchanting the air, the wind caught her as Kaze became one with it. Flying above the city, invisible to the human's eyes, the mysterious sorceress headed for her destination. The same destination that Takuya and Izumi are being led to.

**Author's notes: I apologized for the long update but I'm in college and I had a lot of homework, exams, and projects to work on. Plus, I'm getting ready to transfer to a university, so I rarely have the time to write chapters for "Bloody Nightmares" anymore. But like I said, this story is going to get done sooner or later. No matter what, I'm not going to stop writing this until it's finished.**

**Kaze was mentioned discreetly and indirectly near the end in chapter 7, **_**More Unlikely Encounters**_**, when Gali made a mental note on asking her for more tea.**

**Gali was based from one of my Digimon Frontier OCs. Originally, she was Galimon, the true Legendary Warrior of Water, instead of Ranamon. As for Kaze, I've decided that aside from Dusk, Lobo, and Lowe, this story needs more real DF characters from the actual season. In this case, Kaze is based from Kazemon (Fairymon), and although a novelist, she's also a bit like Gali. But what type is she exactly? You'll have to find out next time.**

**Takato, Jenrya, Ruki, and Ryo are the main characters from Digimon Tamers. Like Hikari, Tai's younger sister from the first season, I wanted to cameo them a little bit for fun.**


	20. Kaze's Air of Love

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Nineteen: Kaze's Air of Love**

Takuya Kanbara and his friends were about to leave the mall when they heard that a storm was blowing in from the Pacific Ocean. And from the sound of it, it looks like it was going to be a big one. As soon as they stepped outside, the wind was blowing and the sky was getting darker and darker from the approaching storm clouds.

"Man, and they said that it was going to be sunny all day long," Junpei complained, stretched his eyes to see the approaching storm. "Note to self, don't rely too much on the weather people!"

Tomoki, Takuya, and Izumi laughed at his comment as they nodded. "It looks as though the storm cloud won't reach the city for another hour or two."

"Yeah, but still, I think we should try to get home as quickly as possible before it hits us."

"Yeah, come on, let's go ho—" Izumi was about to say but then suddenly, she was cut off when a sudden gust of wind blew her hat away.

"Oh, no! My hat!" Izumi cried. Swinging her bag higher, she started to give chase for her hat. But just when she was about to grab it, the wind just blew it out of her reach again and again. "Oh, c'mon now! Takuya, can you give me a hand?"

"Yeah, I'll be right there!" Takuya waved at her as she continued down the street. Turning to his two friends, he waved. "Well, I'm going to go and help her. See you guys later, 'kay?"

"Yeah, sure thing, Takuya!" Tomoki laughed. "If I were you, I would run right away, 'cause if I didn't know any better, I think the wind is play a prank on her!"

"You're right, and man, does Izumi gets mad when she's at the end of a joke that last too long for her to handle. See ya!"

Takuya ran down the street after Izumi and her hat, which was still out of her reach thanks to Kaze's gust of wind. Tomoki laughed again when the head wear appeared to glide out of Izumi's reach again once she thought that she had almost had it. Junpei on the other hand, wasn't amused as Tomoki beckoned him to come home. If it weren't so windy, Takuya would be very sure that the people around them would be pointing and laughing at him and Izumi as they continued chasing the hat down the street. But fortunately for them, the wind was strong that it also blew away other hats, newspapers, umbrellas, and even scarves from those who just came out of the house and were prepared against the coldness. Frankly, they weren't the only ones chasing after something that was being blown away by the wind.

"Urgh! This is so not my day!" Izumi snapped in irritation once her hat eluded her again. "I swear that the elements are against me today!"

"I got it! I got it!" Takuya cried, diving after the hat once it lay to rest on the stone pavement. But just like it had happened to his friend, another sudden gust of wind blew the hat away from his reach. "Dammit!" he swore.

The wing forced the two of them to turn a corner. Kaze, the sorceress responsible for the changes of air, had already arrived at her home long before her to-be guests. She had already instructed the wind to automatically guide them to her house, leaving her enough time to change clothes and setting the table for tea. Putting the kettle on the stove that's filled with hot water, the purple-haired woman could only laughed as she thought, "My, this is going to be one interesting afternoon…"

"C'mon, Izumi! Give it up, just let it go already!" Takuya begged, as he and his friend kept on running and running.

"I can't! It's my favorite hat!" Izumi cried.

"So? Can't you get another one?" Takuya complained, still trying to grab it.

"No, it was a birthday present from Ami last month! I can't let it go! Not after what had happened to her!" Izumi cried again.

It was true. Last month in May, Ami had given her that expensive hat that she had been wanting so much for Izumi's birthday. As Izumi reminded Takuya of Ami, he realized that this object was something important to her, not because it was an expensive gift, but it was gift from a dear friend who is now lying in the hospital.

And since Izumi is an important friend to him, Takuya was hit by a new wave of determination. He glared at the hat hovering gently yet a bit mockingly in front of them as readied himself to leap after it. "Alright then, if that's the way you want to play it, fine! I'm game! But don't expect me to give up anytime soon!"

The hat hovered a bit as though still laughing at him, then suddenly, another gust of wind blew and it began to ride it. Soon it would be gone with the wind again, but Takuya would not allow it. As he remembered the elusive ball during his last soccer match, Takuya pictured the hat as a soccer ball trying to fly away from him. Holding himself back for a bit, he aimed and threw his body forward and managed to caught it with both of his hands.

"YES! I got it! I finally got it!" Takuya laughed, but he landed on stone pavement and managed to sprain his arms a bit as Izumi ran up to him.

"Takuya! Are you alright?" She asked as she bends down to inspect him.

"Ow! Yeah, I'm fine, I guessed…don't worry, it's just a sprain, nothing serious. Oh yeah, got your hat, Izumi!" Takuya grinned at her warmly despite the cold wind blowing. Izumi couldn't help but smiled at him because for a moment there, she felt warm and comfortable with him. Suddenly she blushed and made a quick grab for her hat.

"T-thanks, Takuya-kun!" Izumi said, turning her face away from him to hide her red cheeks, "So um…hey! Where are we?"

Takuya looked up as she mentioned this. Sure enough, they were somewhere in a neighborhood. Apparently, the two of them were too busy chasing after Izumi's hat, that they hadn't realized that they were being led to such a swanky place such as this. "Now this seems familiar…whoa…déjà vu!" Takuya gasped. He noticed that the quiet neighbor that he and Izumi were now in were very spacious and elegant. The houses were large and seemed to be fit for wealthy people such as lawyers and doctors.

"What do you mean déjà vu, Takuya? Where are we?" Izumi asked.

"I'm not sure, but this neighborhood feels a lot like the one where Kouji, Kouichi, and I ended up at yesterday after we left the hospital! Lobo and Löwe suddenly ran off all of a sudden, and when we followed them, we ended up in a neighborhood just like this with all of these fancy houses. All of them were like, designed in western style except one where it was mostly traditional Japanese. And guessed who lives there?"

"Who, Takuya?" Izumi raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Gali, the Oracle!" Takuya replied. "It was really weird, too. It was as though the dog and the cat led us intentionally there just to meet her for some reason. But this place isn't it! I know that this neighborhood is not the same one from yesterday, but I think that it's like the first."

"Wait a minute!" Izumi stopped him. "Are you saying that just like when the twins' pets led you to Gali's home in a fancy neighborhood, that wind was leading us here to a place just like before? But isn't that too much of a coincidence, Takuya?"

"Have you noticed that nothing had seemed to be a coincidence for us lately, Izumi?" Takuya frowned as he pondered the situation. "I mean, c'mon! We met Gali on the night of the Obon Festival and she gave us our prediction, then we met Kyochi-kun and his friends and one of them so happens to found out about Ami's incident. Which led us back to Kyochi-kun again, and after that, Lobo and Löwe led us to Gali. And today we met Kaze the novelist and she warned us about Kyochi's phone call, which he did called you later on about Ami. And just when we were leaving the mall, a sudden gust of wind led the two of us here, to a similar place where Gali lives!"

"Do you think that Kyochi-kun has something to do with all of this?" Izumi asked hesitantly.

"No, but I think that he's somehow connected with all of this," Takuya replied. "I have a feeling that the both of us are caught in something much bigger, but I can't figure out what!"

"I'd say that you two are both caught red-handed for loitering in front of my house!"

The sudden voice behind them made Takuya and Izumi jumped as if they were both caught doing something illegal. They turned around to see who had just spoke to them, and it turns out that the owner of the accuser was none other than…

"Kaze-sama!" Izumi gasped at her, then she looked down to her feet guiltily.

"The one and only," Kaze smiled as she lean against the doorframe of the house. "Well, aren't you two coming in or not? It's rude to linger in front of someone's house, you know." Kaze smiled, her arms folded. The wind continued to blow gently, lightly brushing her hair, despite most of it already tied up in an elegant bun with jeweled-hair pins holding it in place. It appeared as though the woman had changed her clothes to one that was more comfortable and warm when staying home on a windy day such as this.

"Um, that's really kind of you, Kaze-sama, but we really should be going now," Izumi answered nervously. Unfortunately for her, Kaze smiled even more when she glanced at the blonde's twittering fingers around the rims of her hat.

"Oh, but I insist!" Kaze pressed. "I have a feeling that you two might have more questions for me after our meeting at the book-signing event. And besides, I already had the tea brewing. The two of you look like you needed something to drink after all of that running, I'm sure."

"W-w-wait a minute! How did you know that we were runni—" Takuya jumped in, but Kaze continue speaking as if she hadn't heard him.

"I insist! I brew too much tea for myself," She smiled amusingly. "Now that there's no one else to interrupt us, I'm sure your little girlfriend over there will be a bit curious to know about my next series over a nice cup of tea…am I right?"

Izumi blushed from embarrassment. It was true. After Kaze had announced that she was starting a new series, Izumi had been wanting to know a little bit more about it, and especially more so after their light conversation at the book-signing desk. Since this beautiful woman, who is none other than her favorite novelist, is inviting them over for tea, then this really is a treat! Izumi realized that she and Takuya could discuss more about her idol's next written project and about the mystery surrounding Kyochi-kun all in private! This was definitely a golden opportunity that she just couldn't miss.

"All right!" Izumi said. Takuya was taken aback by his friend's sudden change of tone. Before, she sounded nervous, but now she sounded a bit determined. What was she up to? "I guess I could use something hot to drink, but only if you have lemon tea! Right, Takuya?" She turned to him with a determined look that seems to say, _We need to know something and she could tell us!_

Takuya glanced back at her and realized what his friend was planning. He nodded and turns towards the woman in purple in front of them. "Fine, fine! If you insist."

"Lovely!" Kaze smiled as she turned around and welcomed her two young guests into her home. "Come in, the wind is freezing out there, I'm sure!"

"So what did you meant by all of what you just said, Kaze-sama?" Izumi asked, but Kaze didn't answer her.

The three of them were sitting in a large traditional Japanese tea room. Like Gali's house, Kaze's home was also designed in a more native style than western when compare to the rest of the houses in the neighborhood. "Jasmine or green tea?" Kaze asked.

"Either one is fine," Izumi smiled as she and Takuya watched their host placed the tea leaves for green tea into an elegant teapot.

"So…" Takuya began, sounding as casually as possible. "Are you a witch?"

Izumi elbowed him in the side and gave him a disapproving look as if scolding him for disrespecting their host. Takuya scowled slightly and snapped at her. "What? You know you're thinking the same thing, too, Izumi. I'm just trying to get straight to the point!"

To both of their surprise Kaze laughed cheerfully. "My, my…the two of you do get along quite well, if I might say. No doubt because you are childhood friends, but perhaps with a few other people in your little group?"

Takuya and Izumi eyed her in surprise. "How did you know—"

"…about you so much as well as your friend lying in bed in the hospital and that she's being taking care by a new friend of yours?" Kaze finished her guest's sentence and smiled casually as if it they were talking about normal things such as the weather. She lifted the lid of teapot and checked to see if the tea leaves had been seeped into the boiling, hot water long enough. Satisfied, Kaze closed the lid, pulled out three small, matching handle-less teacups from the inside of her sleeves and poured each of them a drink.

"You really are a witch, aren't you?" Takuya said, taking the cup that she had offered.

"A witch? I've been called by that and so did my friend, Gali."

"So you do know Gali!" Izumi cried, almost spilling her tea.

"Yes, she's a good friend of mine, but no, I'm not an Oracle like her, I'm something else," Kaze emphasized the last part of her speech as if to leave her guests hanging on her every word.

"But at the mall," Izumi pointed out, "you knew the names of the people that we bought the extra books for without asking us. And you also knew that our friends were waiting for us at the food court later and you also knew about my friend Ami who's in the hospital right now. You even gave me a warning to be prepared when Kyochi-kun called me about her condition later! If those aren't the clues to what an Oracle are, then I don't know what is!"

"Could you stop with these mind games and just be straight with the answers for us, miss?" Takuya demanded but Kaze only shook her head as she smiled.

"I can't tell you everything, it's against the rules," Kaze brought her cup to her lips and slowly sipped it as she savored its flavor. "As a _witch_, or how you would put it, there are certain things that many of us, including myself, cannot reveal until the time is right. If I were to tell you too much right now, it would alter the events that must happen. Now tell me, do you believe in magic?"

Takuya and Izumi looked unsure of themselves as they struggle to find the right answer to her question. "Well, truthfully not before the start of this summer, ma'am," Takuya replied sheepishly. "But ever since we've noticed all of these things that are happening around us…I…I'm not so sure anymore. I mean, I had always thought that they were just part of myths, legends, and fairy tales."

"Ah, yes, but you must have known that there are certain truths in every legends, am I right? Let my introduced myself formally. You know me as a novelist, but my real occupation is something much more bigger than that. I am Kaze Zephyr JetSilphy, the Prophetess. I once served under a king of Lusteria many years ago along with Gali, the Oracle. And no, Takuya-kun, this isn't a joke if that's what you're thinking."

"Lusteria? Right!" Izumi's eyes were wide after the reminder. "I remember you looking at our way when you mentioned about your next series and that Takuya and I might be more familiar with it."

"Let me get this straight," Takuya jumped in. "You're saying that you and Gali from the Obon Festival know a lot of things about us and the people around as these strange events are happening. But what does that have to do with a royal nation in Europe?"

"I believe that to understand it all, we should try to talk about Lusteria first in order to answer your questions, dear," Kaze smiled a bit somberly. To their left, a glass-screen door rattled by the wind as it blew the storm clouds closer and closer in from the sea with every passing minute. Under normal circumstances, this might felt like an exciting atmosphere for a ghost story, but Takuya and Izumi had a feeling that this is probably something bigger than just plain, old Obon games.

_This is getting more and more strange_, Takuya thought, shifting his weight a bit on the cushion as he sipped his own tea. For a moment, Takuya noticed how strangely wonderful Kaze's tea tasted. When Izumi sipped hers, she also felt the same tingling sensation as its warmth overflowed them with a sense of peace, tranquility, and calmness. _Yep, _Izumi thought as she took another sip._ This is getting really strange._

"Now," Kaze began with a smile, her cup sitting as though it was very comfortable in the palms of her hands. "I'm sure that you're quite familiar with Lusteria's vampire legend, am I right, Izumi-chan?"

"Um, yes! I just read a bit about it on the net the other day while I was searching for some new scary story for Obon."

"And do you remembered what you have read on that particular website?" Kaze asked.

"Um, it was about Lusteria being a great kingdom sometime back in the medieval age, right? Well, it had this king name Pelius and he had two twinned sons. It was said that one of them killed the other and then himself because of a vampire, right?"

"Yes, you have the main idea," Kaze replied.

"But wait a minute!" Takuya jumped in. "Wasn't that just a story? What does it have to do with that European nation and the things that are happening around us now?"

"I already told you, Takuya-kun. Every legend has a certain amount of truths in them including the legend of Lusteria's bloody past." Kaze finished her tea and lifted the little pot to pour herself another cup. "I believe that you're starting to understand that everything is all falling into places. Gali and I believed that there is no such thing as coincidences in this world, but only the inevitable. All of the things that are happening around you are all connected to the past."

"So where should we start? It's all so confusing, Kaze-sama?" Izumi asked.

"Like I said, to understand it all, we'll start with Lusteria. Now I know that you've heard of it before, but what I am about to tell you is nothing less than a ghost story, but a very damn bloody one," Kaze said as she began the story.

"During the medieval times, Lusteria was as great kingdom ruled by a man named King Pelius. While he was ambitious and arrogant, he still loved his country enough to the point where he would willingly sacrificed his own son's happiness for the sake of its survival. His first queen died in childbirth, bearing him a pair of twins, Prince James and Jason. Grief with his queen's death, Pelius ordered his sons to be separated for years. But as time passed, he took a second wife, Johanna, as his queen and she encouraged him to let the two princes come home again. From then on, the Royal Family of Lusteria ruled peacefully and quietly in the capital. There were many soldiers and knights loyal to the king, but there were two brothers who were the most loyal and the most strong: One knight was called the Lion of the Night and his brother and closest friend was called the Silver Wolf."

"Hey, I think I've heard those titles before, too!" Izumi's eyes widen in surprise. "What a coincidence!"

"Please hush, girl," Kaze gently scold her. "I told you that there are no coincidences in this world. Everything is connected. Now…those two served as Guardian Knights to the two princes and it was their duties to train them in the skill of combat in case there is a call for war and to protect them as the next generations of rulers of the kingdom.

"During those times, people still believed in magic. Yes, magic exist, you two, and it still exist today, but discreetly because humans these days no longer have the heart to believe in them. But back then, we lived in the open. There were others like me and Gali. There were those who would perform magic for good and those who would use it for evil. Back then Gali and I were the Oracle and the Prophetess."

"Hold on, are you saying that you were there? But that's crazy! You would have to be like…centuries old!" Takuya blurted out in disbelief. Kaze nodded with a devious smile as she twirled a strand of hair with one finger. "But lady, you can't be alive back then…if you were then you would…you would…"

"…I would look like an old prune?" Kaze laughed and Izumi couldn't help but giggled, too. "Oh, I am sorry that I'm not an old hag on the outside, but I probably am on the inside!"

"So wait," Takuya cut her off again, holding up a hand to indicate a pause from the story. Takuya thought that the more he knew, the more questions he came up with. "If you and Gali were alive back then, then how can you be alive now and not look…old?"

"Oh, you could say that it has something to do with a certain gift…I believe one of your new friends, Kyochi, has a little bit as well!" Kaze smiled mysteriously.

"Wait…what? What does Kyochi has to do with all of this? You're jumping from one thing to another, and you didn't actually answer my question!"

"I can't reveal that part much yet, but probably later in the future," Kaze answered.

Takuya just muttered in annoyance at all of these hidden things and those that were repeatedly said not to be revealed until later. It was starting to get on his nerves. But Takuya took another sip of Kaze's handmade tea and it calmed him down a bit.

"So now where were we?" Kaze asked.

"You were at the part where you said that you and Gali were known as the Oracle and the Prophetess back then?" Izumi suggested.

"Ah, yes…that!" Kaze laughed. "Very well then…Gali and I were among those who used our magic to help maintain the balance between good and evil for the benefits of the world. You could say that the two of us are members of the Ten Legendary Warriors, a separate group of powerful magicans, witches, wizards, and seers. Each one of us had been bonded with a certain type of elemental magic and we used them to help maintain balance in the world. For example, Gali's elemental powers reside mostly over water and she uses water to tell fortunes as well as other means."

"Like that time when she told us our fortunes by using that water-filled basin!" Izumi pointed out.

"Yes, exactly, Izumi-chan," Kaze nodded. "And mine resides mainly over the wind. The wind and the air are messengers to me. I can feel your thoughts and feelings with the help of the air surrounding you. There were ten of us and we were mostly scattered across Europa back then, but Gali and I were the two who resided in Lusteria during that time. During those times, the people and even the king would ask us for advices and for their fortunes to be told. More or less, we did our job and gave both good and bad omens to those who came to our doors.

"For a time, there was peace in most of Europa. The king and queen lived happily with each other while the two princes spent their days training with Lobo and Löwe as well as with each other…but unfortunately, it wasn't going to last. In the eastern Europa, kingdoms were falling under the hands of the ruthless Germtemburgg Empire. The Germtembian emperor wanted to control and dominate all of Europa and was ruthlessly declaring war against the other kingdoms on the continent. When the neighboring Kingdom of Czestolia fell, King Pelius knew that Lusteria might be Germtemburgg's next target.

"At the advice of his court, Pelius decided to ask for another kingdom's help. He looked towards the water kingdom of Atlantice where they were known for their fierce armada by the sea and their trades would help Lusteria's economical decline. King Pelius and King Alan of Atlantice arranged an alliance by marriage. It was then decided that Lusteria's Crown Prince, James, would marry King Alan's younger sister, Princess Marina, both at the age of fifteen."

"Well that sucks!" Takuya scowled. Just thinking about the thought of being forced into marrying someone you don't know makes him feel so bitter when it comes to forcing other people's feelings.

"I know, but back then, it was the only way to create an alliance, right?" Izumi commented. "It must have been such a shock for the two of them…wasn't it, Kaze-sama?"

"You have no idea," Kaze nodded. "The suddenly rush of the arrange marriage pressured both the two princes and the princess as well. Pelius did asked for Gali's consultation on whether the arrange marriage was a good thing."

"And what did she say?" Izumi asked eagerly. Takuya wanted to know that, too, as he nodded.

"Gali said, "'_Your most fitting son for the throne shall be blessed with Atlantice's greatest treasure, but your other son shall sink into grief and a great kingdom shall rise while the other will fail.'" _

"Okay…so what does that mean?" Takuya asked, not understanding what it really implicates.

"As you might have already know, the two princes were very close to each other."

"Right, they say that since James was the elder brother, he was pronounced Crown Prince, but despite this, it still appeared a bit strange to the people because they say that James was the quieter one and he preferred to be a scholar and be with his books. But his brother, Jason, was everything a king should be because he was active and noble and he was really good at those all of this _kingly_ things." Izumi finished her tea as she explained to her friend. Kaze smiled and asked her if she would like another cup to which she agreed.

"But if Jason was the more _fitting son_ as future king, then why didn't Pelius let him marry the princess instead?" Takuya asked.

"I told you, Takuya," Izumi reminded him. "James was the older one and so he's the Crown Prince!"

"So?"

"So naturally, Pelius wanted his eldest son to marry the princess and that they'll bear him grandchildren, continuing the next legitimate line to the Lusterian throne," Kaze explained.

"Wow, this king sounded like such a jerk! He pressured them to marry and then he pressure them to have kids?"

"Yes, Takuya-kun. He wasn't the kind of father that you would adore," Kaze nodded. "Jason never adored him in the first place despite living in his castle since the beginning. I could tell that he and his brother weren't very fond of their father.

"And so those two were betrothed to each other in less than a month. Such was the commands of the two kings. Their decision nearly drove those two to the brick of sadness and despair. Yet surprisingly, both Marina and James got along quite well at first. They grew more and more comfortable with each others' presences but I felt that Marina still didn't love him. While James slowly fell in love with her, the princess only felt that he was more of a brotherly figure to her. But instead, Marina was in love with another person."

"Let me guess…" Takuya interrupted her again with a sarcastic smile. "Instead of loving James, she fell for his brother instead."

"More or less," Kaze replied. She took out a plate of biscuits and cookies and offered her two guests a few pieces to go with their tea. "But Prince Jason didn't like her at first because he disapproved of her marrying his brother. He saw her as an enemy and a threat and refused to bond with her. But as things turned out, he found out that what he had thought of her had been all false. He slowly saw that she wasn't a selfish and spoiled princess, but someone who loved her people and cared for them. She loved life and she cherished his idealisms, too. Jason found out that she was a bit like him, too, a person who was fit to rule a kingdom wisely and with a heart.

" Having her life lived out for her, Marina experienced a certain amount of fear, but seeing Jason's face drove those fears away when she came to a land that was foreign to her. They two of them secretly formed a bond…"

"In other words, you're saying that they had an affair behind their families' backs," Takuya rolled his eyes. Izumi thought that this was a little bit rude, so she elbowed him gently to his right side. "Ow!" Takuya glared at her as he rubbed his side.

"Be quiet and listen, Takuya!" the blonde girl scolded.

"Yes, the two of them played a game of courting discreetly," Kaze continued. "But as they spent more time with each other, it began to nurture consequences."

"Consequences? What kind of consequences?" Izumi asked.

"Prince James began to feel neglected and betrayed by the two of them. He fell in love with her, remember? But Marina didn't felt the same for him. Instead she loved his twin and James' own flesh and blood broke his promise by having an affair with her. The two brothers had promised each other that nothing would come between them, yet they had failed that love is a very powerful thing. It can bring joy, but at the same time, it can cause pain for others.

"The more time Marina spent her days with Jason, the more jealous James felt. Slowly, yet surely, James's heart began to harbor things that people thought that he wasn't capable of: jealousy, pain, anger, bitterness…and hatred. James began to hate both his own brother and his fiancé and he wanted nothing more than to have them suffer for making him suffer from the betrayal and the loneliness. It couldn't be helped. Darkness began to grasp his heart and then…_he _came.

"Who?" Takuya and Izumi asked. They didn't noticed that the two of them had lean in a little bit, keened to know more about the story as it was getting a bit more interesting.

"Was it that vampire thing?" Izumi asked, her hands clasping her tea cup tensely.

Kaze sighed somberly at the thought of the man whom once stood against her and Gali. "His name was Dusk Velge. We called him the Vampire of the Red Moon. He was once a great man…He was powerful, skillful, talented, intelligent, and gifted. He once had everything what anyone would love to have…"

"You made it sound as if you knew him personally, Kaze-sama," Izumi commented nervously as she felt that their hostess had turned from being cheerful to being extremely solemn. It was shocking to the point that it was scaring her. "Kaze-sama? Was there something about him that not even the legend tells?"

Kaze nodded sadly. "He was once one of us...Dusk was once a member of the Ten Legendary Warrior. He was a wizard of the element of Darkness. I told you, he had everything that any man would dream of having…yet he still wanted more. He was such a talented wizard and my fellow Warriors and I had the utmost respect for him. But he stomped on our trusts and our hearts and turned toward the dark side of magic. He was willing to surrender everything and for what? Immortality and power, but the type of power that he had wanted was dark. It was dangerous but he craved for it. My fellow Warriors and I were concerned with his strange behavior, yet we did nothing until one night, he did the unthinkable."

"What did he do, Kaze?" Takuya asked.

Kaze paused for a moment. At the thought of it all, it was too horrible to remember. She was ashamed of it. "Dusk transformed himself into a monster by using Dark Magic…and he killed his own twin brother as the price…his brother, was also one of us. He was worried and tried to stop Dusk from losing himself…but he lost his own life instead. We were all so foolish in doing nothing and stood by and watched our fellow Warrior murder another Warrior whom was his own brother and used Dark Magic just to become a vampire."

"How terrible!" Izumi cried, eyes wide in disbelief. "How could he do such a thing?"

"Who knows? We banished him from our court. With two members gone, the remaining eight of us disbanded and spread across the world. Gali and I were the only one who stayed behind in Lusteria for the time being." Kaze sighed at the sad memory of seeing her friends gone.

"What happened to the other six former Warriors?" Takuya asked curiously. Takuya felt that the story was terribly sad but it didn't stop him to wonder what had happened to the rest.

"Gone." Kaze shook her head gravely and sighed. "Gali was the only one of whom I remained in contact with. The other six left to follow their own separate paths. We never saw nor heard from them again."

"So what happened next?"

"Dusk turned into a vampire a few years before the two princes were even born," Kaze's voice became more and more serious as she continued to tell the tale. "Gali and I lived apart on the outskirts of the capital of Lusteria. Each of us lived in the opposite direction of the other as we are now. We were consulted for advices, dates to be set for certain ceremonies, and our wisdom and knowledge were sought both far and near…by peasants and kings. A few days before Pelius announced his son's engagement, Gali and I foresaw Dusk's return.

"Gali gave the Lion of the Night a warning, but even he couldn't stopped his young disciple from falling victim into Dusk's hands," Kaze paused and looked at her two guests' anxious faces before continuing. "Dusk came as a stranger and a wanderer. He saw the boy's dark-stained heart and he knew that the prince would serve him with great benefits. The Lion of the Night tried to stopped James, but the young Crown Prince's heart and mind were already being poisoned by Dusk's cruelty. Convinced that those who made him felt alone and those who stood in his ways deserved to die, Dusk convinced James to commit a series of homicidal murders. One by one, James killed those who were once dear to him and those who were loyal to him. He murdered his step-mother, the Queen, the servants, the villagers, his own fiancé, and even his brother."

"How terrible!" Izumi cried, her hands clasped against her mouth. Despite knowing the story already, it felt terrible to hear it from a person who was actually there during that time. To hear it from Kaze's point of views, the images and the thoughts were horrible to imagine.

"Was there nothing to stop him?" Takuya asked.

Kaze stopped and looked at him for a moment before answering.

"Jason believed that there was still a way to stop his brother's bloody rampage. One night, he tried to convince his brother and stop him, but alas…it was Jason was fell for Dusk's trap. Dusk had wanted Jason's blood the entire time, but he couldn't obtain it personally. It was his reason for manipulating his brother in the first place. Jason's blood was special because his heart, his mind, and his soul were incorruptible. His royal blood was so noble and so rare. Dusk believed that by obtaining it, he would achieve the goals he had desired for so long. But…"

"But what? What happened?"

"But Gali and I couldn't stand by and watch. I helped Gali tricked Dusk in order to prevent him from obtaining the one thing that he wanted the most!" Kaze's eyes were filled with anger and determination at the thought of her deeds. "As he had deceived us when there were still ten of us, Gali and I deceived him for the benefits of the balance of the world."

"But what did he want the most?" Takuya asked. "Wasn't it immortality and power?"

"Yes, by drinking Jason's blood, Dusk had thought that he had gotten what he wanted."

"Didn't he?"

"No."

"What do you mean no?" They questioned her.

"Gali tricked him and was able to split his soul from his body. Without his body, Dusk couldn't achieve perfect immortality. And without it, his powers are weaker. He will live a cursed life of an endless cycle where he must find a host and feeds on other's blood every one hundred years," said Kaze seriously.

"But what about power?" Izumi asked.

"Dusk wanted something that would help him control the true Power of Darkness, thus enabling him to rule the land. And that something was something that Princess Marina had, the Galis Star," said Kaze. "Dusk had thought that she had given her heart to Jason out of love, and with it, the Galis Star."

"But she didn't?" Izumi and Takuya were confused. "Why? Wasn't she in love with him, Kaze-sama?"

"No. she never did, because I was the one who convinced her not to," Kaze replied a bit triumphantly. "I told her to never surrender her heart to anyone, not even to the boy she was so desperately in love with. Instead, she entrusted the Galis Star to those she believed was worthy enough to handle it."

"Who?"

"In due times, you'll find out."

"Aw, c'mon!" Takuya pouted. "Okay, so let's recap: Gali tricked Dusk and separated him from his body. This prevents him from achieving immortality one hundred percent, right? And he can only continue to stay alive if he took on a host every one hundred years and drink other people's blood."

"It can't be just any host and any victims, Takuya-kun," Kaze tried to explain. "Both the hosts' and the victims' hearts must bear a sort of negative emotions which linked to darkness. Any other hosts or victims' whose hearts are pure and full of light and positive energy will only irritate him."

"Okay, so the guy has no _true_ immortality," Takuya continued. "And you convinced the princess to give this Galeez-Star—"

"It's the _Galis_ Star, Takuya," Izumi corrected him.

"Yeah, right," Takuya turned his attention back to Kaze. "You convinced her to not give her heart to Jason, so she entrusted this star thing to someone else. So without it, Dusk can't control the dark forces or something like that…and take over the entire kingdom, right?"

"Yes, without his real body, he can't even touch the Galis Star," Kaze confirmed. "When the two Guardian Knights failed to protect their two princes, they turned to Gali and asked to atone for their failures. What Dusk did and what Gali and I did to stop him created a chain reaction."

"What sort of chain reaction?" Izumi asked.

"I told you, without his real body, Dusk will have to take over a host and force that host to drink bloods from victims once every one hundred years," Kaze explained sternly. "Before his death, James wished to atone for his sins and both the Guardian Knights wished to redeem themselves for failing to protect them. In order for all of this to happen, the two princes will be reincarnated over and over again once for every century that passes. No matter what new lives, names, and faces they have, their reincarnations share one and the same spirit from the originals."

"Wait a minute," Izumi interrupted. "Are you saying that for the past few centuries, those two princes were reborn again and again and Dusk is after them while at the same time…" she then trailed off and her sentence was finished by Kaze.

"…And at the same time, the two Guardian Knights are tracking them down in order to protect them from Dusk before the time limit. The two Guardian Knights surrendered their chance for real happiness in exchange to make up for what they had failed to do. They must become immortal like Gali and I in order to track down the princes' reincarnations. But their chance for real happiness wasn't enough. They had to surrender most of their humanities, too."

"What does that mean? Surely they're still humans, aren't they?" Izumi asked.

"More or less, they had taken on new forms and appearances," Kaze answered. "After the bloodbath, Lusteria lost its alliance to Atlantice. Alan I blamed Pelius for his sister's death and without his kingdom's support, Lusteria later fell to the ruthless Germtemburgg Empire. But as you probably know from history, the great-grandson and great-granddaughter of Alan I fought against the Germtemburgg Empire about a century later. They successfully reclaimed Lusteria and established a new ruling monarchy. While Alan I's great-grandson became king of Atlantice, his sister, who fought by his side against the Germtemburgg, became the Lusteria's new queen."

"And throughout their lives, they helped liberate the other neighboring lands and restored those once fallen kingdoms including the Kingdom of Czestolia. The Empire of Germtemburgg collapsed about another century later. The sister who became Lusteria's new queen married the great-grandson of one of Pelius's younger brother, so from then on, both Atlantice and Lusteria are like sister kingdoms!" Izumi said. Takuya thought that his friend was quoting from their world history textbook for a moment there and smiled. True, he hadn't paid much attention in class, so Izumi was usually the one who gets a higher grade on her history tests than his.

"Okay so now what does all of those things that had happened in the past has got to do with now?" Takuya asked, a bit impatiently.

"I think that we're about to get there, Takuya," Izumi pointed out.

"Yes, the newly reestablished monarchy of Lusteria lasted up to the present. Today, some of its royal family members are the Clairebournes," Kaze explained. Noticing a small crease on her dress, she brushed against it neatly. "Yes, some of the members of the smaller branch now lives right here in Tokyo while the main branch is still sitting on Lusteria's throne. The Clairebournes that are staying here in Japan are the same people that your two friends are visiting as of right now. Am I right?"

"Kouji and Kouichi are meeting the descendents of both the rulers of Atlantice and Lusteria?" Takuya gapped, his mouth wide opened.

"I take it that you didn't pay much attention yesterday when they told you about their father's business meeting, am I right?" Kaze laughed.

"How did you—oh yeah, you know pretty much everything," Takuya commented as he remembered that their hostess was the know-it-all Prophetess. "So what does it has to do with the murder and the attempted murder cases lately? Including the one on Ami?"

"Those cases are a sign that Dusk is active again," said Kaze. "Remember when I said that in order to stay alive, he has to take on a host and make him feed on others' blood for him once every century? For the past hundreds of years, Dusk possesses that one person who is a reincarnation of Prince James and forces him to commit these bloody crimes. Dusk also has to find Prince Jason's reincarnation and drink his blood before a certain time limit and at the same time he's trying to find his real body and find out who has the Galis Star. Every centuries, the two Guardian Knights are trying their best to track down their masters' afterlives and protect them against Dusk."

"So what you're saying is that Dusk is now here in Tokyo with a new host? He was the one who tried to kill Ami and that fish merchant wasn't he?" Izumi cried, her eyes widen with shock and fear. She then turned to face Takuya with a seriously concerned expression in her eyes. "Takuya, what if he's out there right now and he might attack someone next…someone we might even know of?"

Takuya didn't answer her as he began to see the connected lines. Everything is all connected and he now knows that he and his friends are going to be involve one way or the other. He turned to face Kaze and with a serious face, he asked, "Was that what Gali really meant the other night when she told us our fortunes?"

Kaze gave him a curious look.

"Gali said that Izumi will have an adventure with someone this summer," Takuya said. "And she told me that I will have an important role to play in with someone this summer…does that mean that Izumi and I are now connected, too?"

"You're starting to figure it all out, huh?" Kaze smiled wisely. "The past and the present and the future are all connected. All of the bloody events that are happening around you…all of the things that had to do with Lusteria are getting attached to your other two friends. There is a reason why you're here today in my presence."

"It's all happening again, isn't it?" Izumi asked, her eyes full of seriousness and fear. "Now that we had already entered the 21st century, Dusk is at it again, isn't he? And we have to stop him?"

"But how? What can the two of us do?" Takuya questioned.

Kaze sighed as she got up and looked beyond the glass window as the wind continued to bring the storm in closer and closer. "I can't tell you what to do and not do. Like Gali, I can only give you some advice. What you do are your decisions and only yours alone. Yet I fear that this time, things might get more and more dire."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm afraid that Dusk might actually succeed in finding the things that he has been looking for," Kaze said, "the things that Gali and I did everything in order to prevent him from achieving victory. If he wins, there is no hope…we'll have nothing to fight for…nothing to live for…nothing to even love for anymore."

"No! That can't be true!" Takuya shouted. He stood up quickly, spilling his tea at the sudden rush. Izumi rose up with him with concern. "Ami's a good friend to Izumi and she's one of my best friends! How can I just sit here having tea knowing that some god damned bloodthirsty monster is out there, possessing an innocent person as his host and making him killing people…people that are probably connected to us?"

"Takuya!" Izumi said in a nervous tone. He turned to her with anger and determinations in his eyes. "I'm right, aren't I? Think about it, Izumi. Can you even bear the thought of that bastard who's lurking out there somewhere planning his next victim? What if his next victim is someone like Chiaki or worse?"

Izumi shook her head sadly. "I don't want that, Takuya. But what can we do?"

Takuya had no answer for her. After all, she was right. What can the two of them do? They're just two teenagers. What chances do they have against a vampire who's centuries old?

"If you want my advice, I would try to look for what Dusk's searching for," Kaze said suddenly, breaking the quietness in the room.

Takuya and Izumi blinked at her with confusion.

"The Galis Star?" Izumi asked. "But don't you know where it is?"

"No, I only suggested to Princess Marina to not give her heart and the Galis Star to Jason. I don't know whom she entrusted it to."

"But then how are we supposed to find out where it is if you don't know where it is right now?" Takuya questioned.

"The Galis Star is a powerful object that can become physical and nonphysical," said Kaze mysteriously. "It was said that it once belong to the ancient nymphs of Atlantice and who ever can wield it can control great powers such as the Power of Darkness. I don't know whom Marina entrusted it to, but I do know that it was dispersed."

"Dispersed?" Izumi blinked. "As in it was scattered?"

"Yes, Marina must had understood that if it were whole, it could lead to certain chaos. Fortunately, she took my advice and decided to scatter it."

"Then how in the world are we supposed to find all of the pieces? We don't even know what the pieces looked like!" Takuya pointed out.

Kaze turned to him and gave him a serious look. "Gali told me that it was somehow dispersed into about four or five pieces and they each took the form of…gifts."

"Gifts?" Takuya and Izumi blinked with confusion.

"The Galis Star was originally a gift from the ancient nymphs," Kaze explained. "These gifts can come into forms that appeared as _talents_ or even a trait in a person. For example, one piece could allow a person to be exceptionally gifted in a certain skill or can grant them longevity. However, these gifts from the Galis Star makes these people appear unique because these gifts can be very strange at times."

"So you're saying that we should find these people that seem to have these weird gifts or talents, right? Something that might appear out of the ordinary? But that's easier said than done!" Takuya pointed out. "These talents or skill could be anything! And how are we to know that those people are the right ones?"

"I do know that the people whom each have a portion of the Galis Star are connected to Lusteria's story. James and Jason weren't the only people who were reincarnated over the years. The Galis Star will only choose those reincarnations that where connected to Lusteria's bloody past one way or the other. Once the reincarnated person dies, the Galis Star will choose its next master."

"So if we can find those people, we can find the pieces of the Galis Star!" Izumi clapped her hands. "But how will that help?"

"If you get to them first before Dusk does, you'll help by thwarting his plans," said Kaze. She suddenly reached into the hems of her sleeves. Pulling out what appeared to be small bands of metal bracelets, Kaze motioned Izumi to come forth and she placed them in the girl's palms. "If you find them, give those people these metal bracelets each. All of them have an ancient sealing spell on them that can react against dark magic and dark forces. It can protect the chosen few at least for the time being. But it will only be affected if they wear them at all times. Should these bracelets be taken off, Dusk can take whatever parts of the Galis Star that they have in their hearts."

Izumi nodded as she puts the four plain, silver and gold bracelets away in her bag. Takuya on the other hand was still a bit skeptical. "I'm still not entirely sure of how to spot these people, ma'am. How do we know if a person does have the right gifts that came from a piece of the Galis Star?"

"You must learn to be more attentive, Takuya-kun," Kaze smiled. "You're shutting your eyes to what's happening around you too much. There are things that are magical, mysterious, and mystical happening in front of us every day. But most humans tend to shut them off because these things are unfamiliar to them. They will ignore them, and thus, unable to see the entire truth. If you can learn to embrace the fact that magic exist, then you will be able to tell who these bearers of the Galis Star are. But first, you must learn to see what's important to you and try to see it when it's standing right in front of your eyes. If you let it go, then you might not get a second chance."

"Seeing the truth, is it?" Takuya asked.

"Yes, open your eyes to the truth and what's in front of you before it is too late," Kaze nodded. Turning to face both Takuya and Izumi, she began to speak again. "Takuya Kanbara?"

"Yes?" Takuya replied.

"Izumi Orimoto?" She turned to the blonde girl.

"Yes?" Izumi replied, straightening up nervously.

"As the Prophetess, I give you this wisdom as my advice. Only by opening your eyes will you be able to go down a path that would lead us all to victory."

And with that, thunder rang and lightning struck. The entire room turned dark due to the blackout and both Takuya and Izumi were left to stand before Kaze as her tall and beautiful figure was silhouetted against the flashing storm from the glass doors behind her. Izumi gasped at the sudden blackout and clung to Takuya's arm in fright. Takuya didn't seem to notice at first as he was too fixed on Kaze right now. Standing firmly, he replied with a determined face. "Thank you, we will learn. We will do what we can to help stop Dusk from getting what he wants by finding the bearers of the Galis Star. If it means that we have to grow up and be more attentive, then so be it!"

Kaze smiled proudly as she lowered her head. "Spoken like a true leader." Suddenly, a storm of rain began to fall. The rushing water pounded against the glass windows and doors and the sound against the roof was deafening. Strangely though, the phone began to ring in the hallway despite the blackout cutting off most of the electricity. Takuya could only guess that it was powered by magic of the sort. Walking past them, Kaze exist the room with a smile. "You are welcome to stay here for the night or until the storm dies down. I shall notify your parents immediately of the sudden situation. Trust me, it would be suicidal if you try to run on in this weather."

She left the room as she closed the door behind her, leaving Takuya and Izumi alone in the blackout room with only the flashing lightning as their only source of light for the moment.

"So, are you sure about this?" Takuya cleared his throat. "Are you sure that you want to do this, Izumi?"

Izumi smiled at him. She sat down and opened her bag again. Taking out the four bracelets, she examined them as much as she could from the flashing lightning outside. "Yes, Takuya. If it wasn't for that vampire, Ami wouldn't be in the hospital right now. I don't want that to happen to people like Chiaki or any of my friends and family. The people that are important to us are precious, Takuya. Kaze-sama is right. We have to open our eyes and learn to appreciate the things around us, especially when it's important, because if we let that chance slips by, we just might regret it. I want to help Ami and if this is what I can do as my way to continue on, then I'll do it."

"Then this is probably gonna be one heck of an adventure for the two of us, huh?" Takuya chuckled.

"You think that this time, this is really what my fortune is all about?" Izumi looked up at him with those aqua-green eyes of hers. He had never realized how much of a great smile this girl has. Izumi smiles a lot but never like this. It was as if this particular smile of hers is showing the beholder something more. Takuya suddenly blushed and was grateful that the room was dark in order to hide his red cheeks.

"If you believe it, Izumi," Takuya replied sheepishly. _Oh, boy! Was it getting kinda hot in here or is just me?_ Takuya thought.

"I do, Takuya. I really do," Izumi smiled. She then took out two pieces of paper from her bag. After another flash of lightning, she realized that these were the free tickets to the fancy French restaurant that Takuya had won for her. _Open your eyes to the truth and what's in front of you before it is too late._ Those were the words Kaze had said. Izumi's mind began to play a sort of film montage…full of clips of recent memories with Takuya. Takuya, he is such a hotheaded boy that he sometimes irritates her so much to the point that she just wants to choke him for the heck of it. In fact, Takuya is pretty much the only one who had ever made her feel as though she would love to beat him up just for being stupid sometimes. But then again, he was the one who showed her some kindness and was there to comfort her when she was in hysterical yesterday after hearing the sudden news about Ami from Takashi. Takuya may be an idiot sometimes, but deep down; Izumi saw that he really loved his friends. He was the only one who encouraged her to have the strength to continue forward. He came with her to the book signing and he shown determination in getting back her hat. Not long ago, he had encouraged her to take a stand against the monster who had tried to kill her friend.

Yes, Izumi realized that out of all five boys that she hangs out with the most, only Takuya could make her feel happy and proud of herself. Remembering Kaze's words, she looked up at Takuya.

"Takuya, I wanted to thank you for everything you did for me," Izumi said shyly with a small smile. "I think that without you, I would probably be lost like leaves in the wind right now. Takuya…?" She looked up at him with determination. Takuya noticed that she was clutching the two tickets in her hand quite tightly now.

"Yes?"

"I want you to know that you're important to me," Izumi blurted out, her face redden with embarrassment. But she wasn't the only one. Takuya's face turned red as well at this sudden outburst. But then he smiled.

"You…you're important to me, too, Izumi," Takuya admitted with high embarrassment, rubbing the back of his heard with one of his hands.

"I hoped that we'll be able to do this, Takuya," Izumi's tone grew more and more serious. "I hoped that you and I will be able to find the bearers. If this is what we can do to prevent Dusk from winning, then let's do our best for everyone's sakes…including ours!"

"You're right, Izumi," Takuya nodded in agreement. "Let's do this for Ami."

"Yes, for her, too," Izumi replied. She then looked up at him. Izumi realized that what she's about to ask next takes a lot of courage. She just hoped that she is strong enough to say them. "And Takuya?"

"Yeah?"

"W-would you…um…do you remember these dinner tickets you won at the Obon festival?" Izumi stuttered, her hands shaking with anxiety.

"Yeah, I remember. I won it to prove to you that I could score all those points straight. What about them? Don't tell me that you don't want them anymore, Izumi!" Takuya teased. "Do you realize how much work I went through to get them for you?"

"No, I wanted to ask you if you would like to come with me to the _La Vie en Rose_?" Izumi and Takuya blushed. "I mean, you don't have to if you're busy since you said so yourself!" Izumi blurted out some more.

"You're asking ME out?" Takuya gapped with a stupid look on this face. "Isn't that my job since I'm the guy here and these were my tickets to begin with?"

Izumi could do nothing but laughed at what she had just heard. "This is the twenty-first century, Takuya! Girls can ask the guys out, too! And besides, they're my tickets now since you gave them to _me!_ So therefore,_ I'm_ the one who has the right to ask you and—"

"Okay, okay! I'll go! I'll go!" Takuya laughed. To her surprise he snatched one of the tickets from her hands.

"Are you sure?" Izumi was surprised by his answer. "What about your soccer practice?"

"Nah, I lied back then 'cause I don't want to say it in front of the guys," Takuya admitted. Suddenly, the lights flickered on again and the room was once again bright while the outside continued to be pounded by the typhoon. With the lights back on, Takuya noticed the expiration date and said, "You know, how about next weekend or something? Are you free by then?"

"Will you promise to pick me up on time?" Izumi teased.

"If you shut up about it!" Takuya laughed as he teased back. "So, is it a date?"

"Yeah, that will be nice." They both smiled as they sat down and continued to watch the pounding rain water and sipped the remaining tea in their cups while they were at it.

Unknown to them, Kaze smiled as she watched them from behind a near-closed door.

A few moments later, Kaze was talking on the phone. It was her friend, Gali, the Oracle.

"So how did it all go?" said Gali's voice on the other end.

"It went perfectly, to say the least," Kaze replied. "But don't you think that you're overdoing it with the typhoon?"

"It was needed to serve two purposes, Kaze-chan," Gali pointed out. "While it did help with the situation with your two guests, I need it to serve another purpose at Clairebourne Manor."

"I see. Tell me, Gali. When had the two of us started to play the roles of matchmakers?"

On the other end of the line, Gali gave a small laugh. "Since it was needed to serve a purpose for everything that is to happen. Our role is to help guide these activities to a certain point in this whole story because it was needed to happen, just like it were supposed to happen before. So tell me, Kaze…how are you planning on getting your two guests home? You do know that my rain stop is dangerous to pass through at this level and even so later on."

"Don't worry, Gali. I've been giving Takuya and Izumi some insights on the situation with Dusk. They now know what their roles in this dangerous game are. And if you're still wondering about it, then I'll say yes, Gali, they must be very tired after everything that has happened today. That's why I slipped in some sleeping potions in their tea." Kaze smiled deviously. Somehow, Gali could tell that she probably giggling at the idea.

"Then I'll take it that those two little love birds are probably asleep next to each other," Gali stated. "And they didn't even notice that their teas were drugged from the beginning?"

"No, they didn't. And they will not figure out that I did," Kaze replied. "I'll create a special teleporting tunnel in the fabric of space. By the time those two wakes up, they'll be safe at home without having to pass through your rain storm."

"A smart move, Kaze," Gali commented. "Just like when you gave that shop vendor those free dinner tickets on Obon."

"So you noticed? I hoped that your moves will be, too. Good luck, my friend," Kaze said. Before she hangs up, Gali spoke.

"And before you go, could you send me another one of your specially made tea leaves? Preferably the ones that are not _drugged_ with sleeping potion."

"Of course. Why?"

"Because I'm afraid that this is going to be one long wait to find out the results of my work. I might as well have some of your special tea while I'm at it," Gali replied. She hangs up the phone and continued to stare into a water-liked mirror hanging the wall of her sitting room.

About a few minutes later, a small magical portal opened in front of her and out popped a medium size tea leaves box. It was purple and sealed with magic with Kaze's emblem on it. After finishing making her tea, Gali continued to stare back into the magical mirror as she watches the events unfold at Clairebourne Manor. Her rainstorm hasn't reached it yet, but it will soon enough and it will help create a situation that will help shape this entire story. Hopefully, it will play against Dusk's next plan rather than helping him. Gali smiled as she looks on to the Clairebourne's mansion as Kouji and Kouichi came downstairs with Kyochi to attend dinner. A dinner that will reveal what is to come next.

**Author's notes: I apologize for the long wait. I had been having some difficulties trying to write this chapter and also I was extremely busy with my other responsibilities at school and at home. Sorry that it's long but it is an important one because it reveals Takuya's and Izumi's important role in this story. I like Takumi pairings more because if you think about it, their personalities are better blended to create something more powerful as are their elements; Wind can be only hot when there's Fire and Fire can only be strong if there's Wind. I promise that the next chapter will focus on the twins again. Please read and review.**


	21. Kouji, Kouichi, Kimi, and Kyochi

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Twenty: Kouji, Kouichi, Kimi, and Kyochi**

It was raining hard outside as Gali sipped her warm tea. It felt very cozy to sip hot drinks with a little bit of a snack on the side while the magical monsoon pounded roughly on her roof. So far, Gali told the rain not to reach Clairebourne Manor yet. Not until things are setting in place.

Across the room in front of her, Gali's magical water-liked mirror began to shine. Looking up, the Oracle whispered a short incantation as the images on the mirror reflected not her image, but that of a scene of Clairebourne Manor.

A few hours ago, Kouji, Kouichi, and their Guardian Knights came to Clairebourne Manor with their parents for an important business affair. There they met the new Duke of Lusteria, James Clairebourne, and he had hoped that the twins would be friends with his daughter. Little did the twins know that his daughter, the Princess Kimberly Clairebourne, and the mysterious twin sister of Kyochi, a friend of theirs, were one and the same person: Kimi Watsuki. It was quite a surprise for all of them.

As Gali watched, she could only chuckle a bit as she witnessed Kimi trying to scare the twins with her knives. Despite Kimi having them cornered, Gali was very impressed when she saw how quickly Kouji turned the table and knocked the girl off of her feet. Soon they were joined by Kyochi, who explained his story with the twins as he lends them his suits.

Right from where she had left off earlier, Gali continued to watch the events that had unfolded hours ago…

_A few hours earlier at Clairebourne Manor…_

After leading them towards the one of the grand dining halls, the twins and Kyochi ran into Harrison, the butler, and their parents. At first, Kousei and Satomi gave their children a small scolding but stop shortly when they saw that Kyochi was with them. Harrison introduced them to him and began to address him as the young Master and explained to them that he's a medical student. Suddenly, Kousei recognized the boy's name as the young doctor that Kouji had told him about months before and he and his wife were both very surprised that the young medical student that he is and the brother of the Duke's daughter were one and the same person.

Satomi was about to ask him why he didn't refer the Duke as his father, but Harrison came forward and announced that they may join their host and his family in the large dining hall. Opening the large double door, they entered a very luxurious looking dining hall. There was a fine long wooden dining table. Two servants were just finishing setting the last sets of silverwares and china dishes before bowing and running off. The table's centerpieces were sets of Lusterian crystal vases. Each one had red roses placed delicately in it. As the twins looked on, they noticed that all around them were a few paintings of deceased Lusterian noblemen and royalties from the previous generation and before. Kouji thought it quite strange to eat in a place where you know there are ten sets of eyes staring at you from the walls.

In front of them stood the Duke, Lord James. He was talking to another man next to him. The man next to him appeared to be Japanese, yet he was wearing an elegant Lusteria suit. Unlike Lord James's, his wasn't adorn with ribbons and medals to indicate royalty. When he noticed his guests, the Duke beamed as they came over.

"Kousei! I want you to meet Masanori Kinomoto. He is my brother-in-law and he is the reason why I have called you and your family here."

"A pleasure to meet you, Kinomoto-sama," Kousei said respectfully as he shook the man's hand.

"Likewise. I see that you're somewhat of a family man. Good, that's what I needed to see," said Masanori when he noticed Satomi and the twins. Ironically, he didn't notice Kouji rolling his eyes when he called Kousei a "family man".

"My brother-in-law told me that you would be able to help me enough in financing a project of mine," said Masanori.

"I hope so…that is if this project of yours isn't bigger than my company!" Kousei joked.

Masanori laughed. "I like a man with a good humor!"

Again, Kouji rolled his eyes in disagreement. Seeing this, Kouichi nudged him in the side discreetly. "What?"

"Kouji, stop it! Don't let them see you do that or things might not go well for Dad!" Kouichi scolded under his breath.

"Please, we can discuss business later, but now we should all eat," said Lord James.

Looking around, Masanori noticed that something was not right. "Where's my niece?" Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, he turned to Kyochi. "Kyochi-kun, where is your sister? Shouldn't she be here by now?"

"I think she's in her quarter."

Hearing this, Lord James faced his guests with a hint of embarrassment in his tone of voice as he tried to sound as casual as possible. "Forgive, my daughter is usually very punctual. It's strange that she's not here yet—"

"Excuse me, My Lord, but I believe that the young princess is standing right behind you," Harrison whispered. They all turned to see a Japanese girl standing behind her father with an expressionless look on her face as she observes her father's guests' faces quietly. Kimi seemed to have changed from her European looking school uniform into an elegant, sky blue dress. Her slightly wavy hair was adorned with a jeweled hair pin in a graceful bun.

"Ah, everyone, this is my daughter and heir, Princess Kimberly," Lord James beamed proudly as he presented her to his guest. "As I've said before, I believe that your children and my daughter are around the same age, did I not? Kimberly, these are—"

"I know who they are, Father," Kimi interrupted him stoically. "You and Uncle have been talking about them for the past few weeks." Turning to see Kouji and Kouichi, she continued to observe them emotionlessly. However, Kouji could feel that her piercing blue eyes were filled with coldness as they met his. He returned the favor. "You don't need to tell me who these two are, either." Kimi noted to the twins. "Kyochi-nii-san and I _ran_ into them a while ago."

"Well, then!" Lord James seemed somewhat pleased. "I'm sure that you'll all be able to get along with each other. Surely you must have something in common with each other, then."

At the mention of this, Kouji and Kimi began to exchange vindictive glares to each other. For a moment there, Lobo and Löwe could feel a few shocking lines of lightning being exchange between Kouji and the fierce girl. They find this somewhat amusing. Kouichi and Kyochi on the other hand, both quietly nudged their siblings and warned them to behave in front of their parents.

Harrison began to motion them all to take their seats as the servants filed out from the kitchen. Each of them held silver platters filled with some of the finest Lusterian cuisines. While the adults sat at one end of the table, the children sat at the other. Kimi and Kyochi took their seats together on one side of the table while Kouji and Kouichi sat opposite them. Lobo and Löwe crawled under the tablecloth and decided to rest there for a while, at the same time, listening in on the adults' conversation and the children's.

Kouichi noticed that his brother and Kimi were exchanging murderous glares again even as they began to eat their appetizer. He didn't feel like jumping in again so the older twin decided to look around the dining room again. Suddenly he noticed that there was an empty seat right next to Lord James. Strangely though, this chair was prepared just like all the others. It had all of the plates and silverwares set before it and so he assumed that it must be reserved for someone.

"I see that you've noticed that there's an empty seat, Kouichi-kun," Kyochi commented when he noticed his friend staring at the seat. "Lady Ren won't be joining us this evening, I'm afraid."

"Who is she?" Kouji raised his eyebrow. Swiftly, the servants took away their plate and began to hand out the first main course. They were having fish.

"As if you didn't know!" Kimi spat vindictively. Luckily for her, she and the boys were sitting at the far end of the table and the adults were too indulged in their conversation about Kousei's financial company and how he built it from scratch…which later turned to the topic about the Duke's summer home in southern Lusteria somehow. Glaring at Kouji and Kouichi, Kimi stabbed her steaming fish with a knife, possibly causing a small chink in the china plate. It was clear that she was still very angry at the twins, especially Kouji. "If it weren't for you, my mother wouldn't be stressed out about it today."

"Oh, c'mon! You're seriously playing that hate card again, princess?" Kouji remarked coldly. She was really starting to get on his nerves. Beneath his feet, Lobo and Löwe could tell that when he addressed Kimi as "princess", he was using it with irritation, not respect. "I thought it was clear that we weren't snooping around your house and we're not part of the press!"

"Not that, you idiot!" Kimi retorted with cold eyes.

"Then what's your problem, girl! First you attacked us with those flying daggers in the maze, and now you're pissed about something else that I don't get!"

"Kouji!" Kouichi scolded. "That's enough!" They turned their heads slightly to the other side of the table. Again, the four of them were lucky that their parents were too busy talking about private home constructions to notice their argument.

Kimi glared savagely at Kouji for almost revealing to the adults about her skill in shuriken-jutsu. "If you don't shut up about that, I'll kill you!"

"Yeah? I like to see you try, princess," Kouji snapped back.

"Don't tempt me, boy!"

"That's enough, you two!" Kyochi scolded as he turned to his sister. She didn't look at him. "Kimi, it's not their fault and you know it. So don't push it." He then turned to face Kouji and Kouichi to apologize. "I'm sorry, but Lady Ren is the Duke's wife. She's not feeling well, so she won't be joining us today or this evening."

At the mention of Kimi's mother, Kouji and Kouichi were suddenly reminded of their own biological mother. So this girl's mother is probably as ill as theirs was. Now Kouji could see why this fierce teenage princess was so angry about. Like him, she was just being protective. Sighing, he said, "Yeah…sorry for asking…"

Kimi didn't reply. Instead, she decided to avoid everyone's eyes by lowering her head slightly and began to pick at her food glumly. The servants later brought out the next two main courses. They had Lusterian steak and southern Lusterian crab soup. Kouichi felt that it was a bit unfair for him to eat all of this, so he snuck half of his share of the fish, steak, and soup under the table discreetly. Lobo and Löwe thankfully ate quietly so that the adults wouldn't hear and see. At first, Kouji and Kouichi didn't pay much attention, but when they heard something about financing, it perked their interests.

"Now, as you know, it took me a long time to get my company going," Kousei explained. "I had some troubles in the first few years. There were the attentions of money, location, advertisement, business, and even employment. Why it was so difficult at first that my family and I had to move a lot in order to keep up with the business. But with time and patience, and little bit of luck, I was able to get more credit for my company and my family and I were able settle down. I realize that you just need to be able to trust the right people and know what kind of personalities that they have. That way, you'll be able to rely on them to help your business survive."

"Yes, that's exactly what I want, Kousei-san," said Masanori with satisfaction. "I need someone who can help me invest some financial support. But it can't be just anyone. I needed someone who has a heart for both business and family. Specifically, you were the one that I've been looking for, Kousei-san."

Kousei's looked at his benefactor with a surprise look. "I am…truly honored, Masanori-san," Kousei nodded humbly. "But please tell me, what sort of project do you want my company to finance?"

Kimi's uncle smiled fondly as he imagined the elegant buildings in his head as they were his dream. He turned to face Kousei and Satomi. "I want you to finance my restaurants, Kousei-san."

"Your…restaurants?" Kousei seemed to be a bit confused at first. For a moment there, he had thought that it was going to be bigger. In truth, the twins' father felt a little bit disappointed but at the same time also relieved. If the project was something too big, his company might not be able to handle it.

"Yes, my friends," Masanori continued. He picked up a glass of Lusterian wine and drank it. "More specifically, I want you to help finance a chain of authentic foreign restaurants of mine. You see, I've been a chef for a long time. I have traveled all over the world, mostly in Europe to study cuisines. But lately, I want to settle down here in my native country, Japan. I want to be close to my parents and my siblings. I also want to realize my dream. I want to create my own personal chain of restaurants so that the Japanese people will be able to experience the exquisite foreign tastes of Europe in both culture and fine food."

"I can see that this vision of yours is quite wonderful, Masanori-san," Kousei commented politely, at the same time, honestly. Unknown to him and the others, the children were listening in to their conversation with keened ears. Lobo and Löwe were also leaning in to hear more under the table as they finished swallowing the last piece of their fish and lamb. "But, pardon my rudeness, Masanori-san, but surely, James-dono would have been a better candidate to help you?"

"No, no! It has to be someone on the outside who has no relationship or any connection with my family before," Masanori assured him. "You see, I wanted to prove to my father that I am capable of this and that I don't always need any help from family or friends. I need to prove to them that I can build this dream on my own. So none of them are going to fund my little "pet project", whatsoever. I need to find a way to make this work on my own and with my own money only. That is the reason why I picked your financial group to help me."

"And if you've successfully helped him, Kousei," Lord James added in. "It could also be very beneficial to you and your family."

"Yes, if we can make this work, your financial group would be able to receive even more credit, perhaps even international. And perhaps soon, you and your family will be able to enjoy the benefits of it all here and across the globe!"

Although it wasn't cold, Kouichi began to shiver at the thought of it. His brother only lowered his head and stared at his plates darkly.

"So what do you say, Kousei-san," Lord James asked hopefully. "Will you accept my brother-in-law as your customer?"

"I…I am very honored, Sir," Kousei replied. "Yes, I will help finance your restaurants in any way that I can." Getting up, both men shook hands in agreement.

"Excellent!" Lord James declared. He was very satisfied. This was definitely good news, especially for his wife to hear. "Let's celebrate this with a little bit of Lusterian desserts and red wine." Turning to Harrison, Lord James waved to him. "Harrison, tell the chefs to bring those out. I think we need something special for our guests to try out tonight to end this dinner, don't you agree? Tell them that we'll have it in the Queen Annette sitting room in the East Wing."

"Yes, My Lord," Harrison bowed. "I'll inform the master chef immediately."

The men got up and continued to talk about their plans for their business transaction. Satomi came over to the children and motioned them to follow her. "Isn't this wonderful, boys?" She asked happily. "Your father has probably landed himself the biggest deal in years!"

Not wanting to spoil the mood for her, Kouji and Kouichi did their best to put on their happy faces for her to see. But Kouji's tone of voice was the one that seemed a bit hesitant. "Um…yeah, Satomi…that sounds…really great."

"Yeah, we're…very happy for him," Kouichi added.

"C'mon, it seems that we're having desserts in the other room," Kyochi cut in. "I'll lead the way. The Queen Annette sitting room is right this way down the hall." He got up and grabbed his sister's hand and led them all to the sitting room at a safe distance. He and Kimi exchanged whispers discreetly as they led the way.

Getting up, Lobo and Löwe followed their young masters and their step-mother from behind. This way, they could eavesdrop on their conversation. "So, what did you kids talked about?" Satomi asked curiously.

"What?"

"During dinner? Surely you didn't say anything during all that time?"

"We, um…already kinda know about Kyochi-sensei, Satomi," Kouichi replied. "We've met him a while back, but it was a big surprise to see that he's the brother of a Lusterian princess, that's all."

"My, my…I'm surprised about that, too," Satomi agreed. Looking ahead, they saw Kyochi and Kimi continued to talk down the hallway a few paces away from them. It was a bit difficult for the twins to hear as they could not make any clear words from it. But for their Guardian Knights, they could hear it perfectly as they only needed to send out their sensitive hearing abilities. "What a gorgeous looking girl," Satomi commented on Kimi. "It's such a shame that she's so shy."

_More like a paranoid bitch, if you asked me,_ Kouji thought.

"Why don't you talk to her a bit more, boys? I'm sure that she'll make an interesting friend for you, don't you agree?"

"What?" Kouji and Kouichi turned to stare at their step-mother. They could not believe what Satomi was even suggesting. "Talk to her?"

"Oh course! Lord James and your father and I want you kids to all get along now. After all, her uncle is becoming your father's special customer. It would do you all some good if you see more of each others as friends." Satomi stated flatly.

"But Satomi, I don't think she's ready to be friends with us," Kouji muttered. But his step-mother doesn't seem to want to hear any excuses.

"But you boys seemed to be fine with being friends with Kyochi. Surely there's one more room for his sister as well," Satomi said with some encouragement. "And besides, she seems so lonely and shy. It would do you all some good if you could spend some time together."

"But Satomi," Kouji stated. "I don't think that's the best idea."

"I don't want to hear it, Kouji!" Satomi scolded him in a motherly manner. "Look, it's very obvious that Lord James wants you two to be friends with her. Your father has found himself in a very important business deal with the Duke's brother-in-law. It would help your father very much to see you trying to get along with her. You've gotten along with Kyochi, you shouldn't be having trouble with her, too."

"Yeah, but he's different, Sato—" Kouji tried to explained.

"No buts! As your step-mother, I'm asking you to try and do something that I believe is essential to your father's future and his career: I want the two of you to try your best and be friends with that girl. Don't go judging her before you get to know her more. Understand?"

"Yes, but…what if we don't like each other? Then what?" Kouichi asked hesitantly.

"Then I want you all to try at least to be polite to her," Satomi answered him. "For your father's sake."

Kouichi nodded and answered with a yes. Kouji, on the other hand, wasn't too sure about it. In the end he agreed and Satomi walked on with a smile on her lips.

_This is going to be a nightmare,_ Kouji thought glumly at the thought of him trying to be nice to her... "What kind of mess have Dad gotten us into, Nii-san?" Kouji asked bitterly.

"I'm thinking that it's the kind where you have no choice but to do it for Dad's sake," Kouichi smiled. "Don't worry, I'm sure that things will work out. I'm sure that it's not going to be that bad, right?"

"Being friends with someone as arrogant as her _is_ bad, Nii-san," Kouji stated. "Trust me, the only thing that I'm interested right now is staying away from the Princess of Knives-Throwing over there."

"But Satomi said—" Kouichi began to point out but his brother interrupt him.

"I know what our step-mom said, Kouichi," Kouji snapped. "Look, I'll try to be…_nice_…to her, but that's it. I don't want anything to do with her."

"I don't mean to disappoint you, Kouji-kun," Löwe spoke up as he rode on Lobo's back comfortably. "But I'm afraid that that's going to happen."

"What do you mean?" Kouji turned back to look at his furry friends.

"Oh, it's just that you're about to be in for a big surprise that's waiting in store for you!" Lobo answered with a smug grin.

The Queen Annette sitting room was…very cozy. It was filled with elegant and soft cushioned-chairs and rich wooden coffee tables. Below their feet, rich-colored Lusterian rugs spread across the floor. There was a very large fireplace in the center wall. Above it was a painting of a very elegant and beautiful looking woman. She wore a late 18th century royal gown with the hems flowing gracefully behind her as her gloved hands rested beautifully on a stair handle as she seemed to ascend downward towards whoever painted this portrait. Her eyes were blue, but her skin was fair and white like snow, yet her golden hair was that of a corkscrew-curled style. Beneath the painting was a little golden table depicting the name of the subject of the painting and the artist's name: _Queen Annette by Marcus Glantisca._

The adults sat near the fireplace and continued to talk about how their business deal was going to work while having wine with their desserts.

The four kids sat near the windows where strong winds were blowing and dark clouds slowing approaching. Their tea and desserts plate were only half-empty, save for Kyochi's and Kouichi's, as Kimi and Kouji didn't felt like eating much despite the sweets being very delicious. They both said nothing to each other, other than exchanging more cold glares. Kouichi thought that it was a little bit dramatic that the cold atmosphere between his brother and the Lusterian princess was just as cold as howling winds and gales outside.

Decided to break the cold silence, Kyochi decided to start a conversation. "So, guys…did you see anything else that was interesting during the Obon Festival?"

Kouji seemed a bit skeptical to answer but his brother was willing to do anything to cut the cold atmosphere around them to an end. Smiling, Kouichi laughed. "Not that much really. It's all just the same booths and games. There's not much that's new…"

"What about that fortune-telling tent?" Kyochi asked.

"What fortune-telling tent?" Kouji asked, perhaps a bit more defensive than he had meant to.

"The one that my one of my friends saw you went in into."

"You were spying on us?" Kouji raised an eyebrow.

"No, we were walking towards the sitting spots when we saw your friends standing in front of it," Kyochi said. "My friends and I didn't see you two at that time only your friends. That's probably why I didn't know that you two were there at first."

"Oh."

"So…what was in that tent? Anything interesting?"

"It's probably just fortune-telling," Kimi said suddenly, somewhat a bit stoically yet also snidely. She appears to be bored as she took her cup of tea and sipped it. Putting it down on its matching tea plate, she eyed the twins condescendingly. "Right?"

This snide remark, however, only irritated Kouji a bit more. "Okay, first you're a professional knife-thrower and now you're a mind reader, too?"

"I don't have to be to know that you're hiding something," Kimi stated, staring down at her tea for a second before looking up again. "It was so obvious with that tone of voice of yours. Makes me wonder how someone like you who could give away an easy hint could really try to stand up to me."

"Hey, for your information I was the one who knocked you down, girl!"

"That was nothing more than luck for you!" Kimi spat and slammed her tea cup and plate on the table a bit roughly. Lobo and Löwe perked up in curiosity at the sound of it.

"You think that I don't have a chance against someone as condescending as you?" Kouji accused her.

"I'm merely saying that you were only lucky back there," Kimi said coldly.

"Oh yeah? Then why don't we have a little rematch, then?" Kouji challenge her. Kyochi and Kouichi were about to stop him from getting up but then the next thing, Kouji's chair started to move. It occur a bit too fast for Kouichi to tell what had just happened. One minute, his brother was sitting in it, and the next thing, his head was slammed against the surface of the table. Lobo and Löwe perked up. To them, they saw the whole thing with their fast gazing eyes. The Guardian Knights saw that the younger twin's chair was somehow pulled forward. It forced him to jolt back against it and just as it moved quickly, it stopped. This forced his body to fall forward and his head to slam against the table. Luckily for him, his half-eaten cake was there to cushion the blow, but it left chocolate frosting on his face.

Kyochi stared at his twin as she sipped her tea with a hidden smile behind it. She was acting as if what had just happened was one of the most natural things and didn't even bother to say sorry even when Kouji glared at her from behind his chocolate frosted mask.

"Oh, Kouji!" Satomi exclaimed. She heard the thudding sound from where she was sitting and came over. Her husband and his business partners looked over slightly to see what the commotion was about. "Kouichi, what happened here?" She asked his brother, for which, he had no answer.

"Kouichi, answer me," Satomi said. "What happened here? What's going on?"

Kouichi couldn't only stutter as he struggles to find an explanation. In truth, he really didn't know how it happened but the look that his step-mother was giving him made him anxious. Suddenly, they heard a small barking from behind Kimi's chair.

To their surprise, it wasn't Lobo but another dog. It was a collie, and quite a fine specimen, too. Putting her tea cup down, Kimi scratched the dog behind the ear and turned to face Satomi. "It's nothing. My dog, Ronnie, surprised Kouji here that he stumbled and fell. He _accidentally_ jolted back too quickly and hit the table."

"I see," Satomi said. She turned to Kouji and asked, "Is it true?"

Kouji couldn't tell her anything except agreed with Kimi's lie for he fell lost at words, too. He just couldn't come up with a better excuse for now at the moment. He could only count on the princess' dog's sudden appearance as a blessing in disguise. "Yeah, it rubbed against me and startled me. That's all, okay?"

"Really, that's not like you, Kouji," Satomi shook her head. She took out a handkerchief from her pocket and gave it to her step-son. He grabbed it quickly from her hand and scowled as he tried to wipe his face clean. When he was done, he threw it back to her and turned away from everyone and faced the windows to his right, his arms crossed. Satomi sighed again. "I'll leave you kids to it, then. And Kouichi, remember to remind your brother of what I just said, okay?"

When Satomi left and rejoined her husband on the other side of the room, Kyochi turn to see his sister fondly scratching Ronnie behind his ears with both of her hands. "You're such a naughty dog, aren't you, Ronnie? It's okay, I'm not mad at you. After all, it's not your fault that our guest got caught off guard." Kyochi shook his and sighed. He leaned towards one side of his chair, placed his right elbow on its arm and covered his face with the palm of his hand in frustration. "Oh, God, please help me," he muttered under his breath.

"What the hell did you do?" Kouji demanded coldly.

Kimi didn't give him so much of a glance. "I have no idea what you're talking about, boy."

"Don't flatter yourself. I know that your dog wasn't near me and that you somehow made my chair move."

"Maybe it was a ghost," Kimi suggested, the tone of her voice was being playfully arrogant.

"Yeah, right," Kouji protested, leaning back against his chair. Fortunately, it didn't move like before. "Like I'm supposed to believe that this is a haunted mansion and that ghost exist."

"Who knows? The servants here gossip a lot. They say that a construction worker died here during the last renovation of the East Wing twenty years ago. And ten years ago, a maid committed suicide in this very room because she was caught having a forbidden affair with one of her co-workers." Suddenly, she looked up and was quiet for a moment. Then she gave them a stoic glance and said, "Or would you prefer to think that it was a demon or even a vampire, maybe?"

To her surprise, Kouji, Kouichi, and their Guardian Knights opened their eyes wide in shock at the mention of this. Lobo and Löwe became tensed and was on the alert. What if it wasn't Kimi that made the chair move? Could Dusk have somehow gotten closer to them again? The more the two of them thought about it, the more impossible it seemed. Surely, Dusk could not have entered this mansion without the consent of one of its residence?

The twins were just as bit as tensed as their loyal friends. Kouichi was starting to wonder if this girl was really working for Dusk after all. Kouji was thinking of the same thing. If it was true, then they both have to be very careful around this girl. She was already dangerous to begin with. Trying his best to keep his cool, Kouji tried to find words to ask her without arousing suspicions from the adults.

"Vampire? What vampire?" he asked.

"Take it easy," Kimi replied. She leaned back against her chair. "I thought you said that you don't believe in ghost. I didn't think that you would believe in vampires. Or was that a lie?" She raised a curious eyebrow at Kouji, folding her arms and crossing her legs.

"I…I don't!" Kouji said in defense. "It's just that it sounded as if you knew about…" He lowered his voice under his breath as he whispered the name of the monster he hated the most. "…about _Dusk_…"

"Excuse me?" Kimi seemed confused.

"Oh, it's really nothing, Kimi-hime," Kouichi lied.

"No, don't lie. I heard you said something," Kimi pointed it out. "Now spill it. Your brother thought that I knew about something when I said the word _vampire_. What did you mean by that?"

"Oh, it's just that we…um…" Kouichi tried to search for a good explanation but found none. Kouichi wasn't much of a good liar. In fact, he was worst if compared to his brother. And even though Kouji had lied, Kimi was able to catch on to him instantly. So he had no choice but to tell the truth…if not all of it at least. "It's just that we thought that you knew of something about our friend's incident. Her name was Ami and…"

"Ami?" Kimi questioned. She turned towards her twin and frowned. "Wasn't that the name of one of your patient, Nii-san?"

Kyochi looked at his sister in surprise. "How did you know she is my patient?"

"I heard you were talking with Mom on the phone this morning," Kimi stated. "What does she have to do with all of this?" She turned to face Kouji and Kouichi and demanded, "What's going on?"

Lobo and Löwe had relaxed their guards long ago once they assured that once again, Kimi was oblivious to the truth that was starting to surround them lately. Yet, they were still a bit concerned since she was starting to get suspicious. It wasn't a good idea to involve outsiders to the truth. If they tell her the truth about themselves and Dusk and if either of the Guardian knights were to reveal their secrets to this girl, who knows what she would do to them as a reaction? As far as they were all concern, the less she knew the better. So when er brother didn't seem to want to discuss this, Kouji was then the one who answered her glumly. But he knew well enough to be careful not to leak out important clues. He figured that if he let her know the general details that everyone heard of, then perhaps they'll be safe for a while.

"She was one of our friends' friends and someone tried to kill her by draining her blood after the Obon Festival. It seems that your brother is Ami's doctor, Princess."

To his surprised, Kimi's eyes widen with fear. He didn't know why but he assumed that it was something he had said that had upsets her. It was strange, though. This girl appeared to be such a cold and heartless person, but at the mention of Ami's incident, Kimi almost seemed to be…afraid. He and his brother noticed how she lowered her gaze down to her lap and Kouichi seems to be a bit concern as well as her brother.

"Kimi…what's wrong?" Kyochi asked.

"They were mentioning it…" she muttered.

"What?"

"I just…I just heard the adults talking about it a few minutes ago…something about a vampire draining people's blood…" Kimi raised a finger and pointed to their parents' direction. All of the boys suddenly turned towards Lord James and his guests who were talking in front of the fireplace while Kimi glance out of the window as she watched the storm clouds getting closer and closer.

Like their masters, the Guardian Knights strained their ears and heard Kimi's uncle and the boy's father were talking about merchants to buy food from when suddenly Masanori mentioned something serious that caught all of their attentions. "And then this morning, I got a phone call from that fish merchant's worker and he told me that his boss was attacked by a vampire!"

"I cannot believe the nerve of him," Kousei commented.

"That's what I thought so at first, Kousei-san," Masanori admitted. His expression then looked solemn. "I thought that the boy was playing a prank when he claimed that Tanaka-san was killed that way. But then around noon today, I received a call from Beika Hospital and the doctor told me that he had died from too much blood loss."

"Wait a minute," Satomi cut in, "That sounded a lot like that case that had happened after the Obon Festival. They mentioned that it was a girl."

"Yes, Kyochi is stationed at the hospital as her doctor," Lord James added. "He and the other medical students claimed that it was some sort of a case of hypovolemia, but it was the strangest one ever seen."

"The media reported that it was a was at first a case of attempted murder, but what's strange is that there were no external wounds on the victims and the only left at the crime scenes were broken glasses from nearby light bulbs," Masanori continued knowingly.

"So in some ways, it seems as though these two victims were attacked by a vampire-liked person," Kousei concluded.

"Yes," Masanori agreed. "What's terrible is that some of my employees who lived near those two areas are starting to request for a long vacation. They're too afraid to work and wanted to leave the city until they feel safe again."

"If that's the case, then I could try to finance some extra advertisements to offer more employments, sir," Kousei said.

"Yes, that would help. But whatever's the case, I hoped that the authorities will find the monster that did this soon," Masanori declared. He seemed a bit angry as he continued. "My wife and my sister are worried and if anything happens to them or my family, I…"

"Don't worry, Masanori," Lord James said, trying to assure his brother-in-law. "We have the best securities and guards here, plus, we're miles away from the main city. And I'm sure that they'll catch the culprit sooner or later."

Kouichi suddenly felt very guilty and sank lower into his chair as the adults continued their discussion. What would Masanori say if he knew that the killer of one of his fish merchants was sitting only a few meters away in the same room? What would his father and step-mother think if they realized that the killer is their own son? After all, it was his fault for causing Izumi so much grief. And when she had cried about it in the park, Koichi didn't share her pain. He hadn't felt sad for her at all. And it was Kouichi's fault that another innocent man had died. Although there were only two at first, Kouichi had to wonder if he had attacked any more victims while under Dusk's control. Kouji noted his brother's guilty atmosphere. The younger twin inhaled and leaned over him and whispered, "Nii-san, don't be like that. We know that it wasn't entirely your fault." Kouichi nodded and sat up straighter in his chair, yet the look of despair remained on his face.

But Kouichi wasn't the only one. Kimi suddenly got up and tried to hide her solemn expression and turned towards the door. "Kimi, where are you going?" her brother asked. His sister didn't turn around to face him but she answered him as blankly as she could.

"Back to my quarters. I'm tired. I'm sure that you are enough for your two friends tonight, Nii-san. I hardly think that you need me to help you entertain them the rest of the evening to begin with," It was all she had said as she left the room with Ronnie trailing behind her, leaving Kyochi was a somewhat regretful expression on his face and two baffled twins sitting across him.

"Okay, what the hell was that about?" Kouji demanded.

"Excuse me?" Kyochi asked.

It had been about fifteen minutes later after Kimi had left the room. The three boys and two pets continued to eavesdrop on the adult's conversation as they continued to talk about the attacks. Satomi seemed worried which only made Kouichi felt guiltier. Once the topic of their discussion has changed, Kouji turned towards Kyochi and demanded an explanation.

"Your sister is really strange," he stated.

"I…I don't know what you're talking about," Kyochi lied.

"Oh c'mon! You saw how hard she was working to make this evening terrible," Kouji stated the obvious. "Look, I'm sure that you're being the protective older brother and all and you're always defending her, but you knew all along that she somehow made my face collided with the table." His accusation hit Kyochi dead-set on the right spot when Kyochi couldn't face him. "See? I knew it."

Kouji was right and Kyochi knew that he could no longer deny it. He got up and motioned to his friends to follow him into the quiet hallway. That last thing he needed was to have the adults' full attention if their conversation were to get out of hand.

"Well? What is it that you really want to know?" Kyochi asked.

"You tell me," Kouji declared.

"I think what Kouji's trying to say is that why is Kimi so determined to hate us," his brother said. Kouji turned to him and nodded. After all, Kouichi can really read him the best.

"Perhaps it's because she still has that feeling that you're a threat," Kyochi replied.

"You can't be serious," Koji replied with irritation and disbelief. After they made it clear that he and his brother weren't part of the press digging for a scoop, Kimi was still being cold towards him.

"Wait," Kyochi started. "You two were fighting in the maze before I arrived, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"How exactly did your fight turn out?" Kyochi asked.

Kouji and Kouichi gave each other confused looks before answering. "Like I said, your sister threatened us with her flying daggers. I had to block them using one of the wooden garden poles."

"I don't understand," Kyochi said. "I ran in after hearing her scream. I know she wouldn't do that unless she actually lost…"

Kouji was starting to understand at his friend's confusion. Looking down, he faced Lobo and Löwe who were both staring up at them curiously. "Wait!" he said. "During the fight, Lobo and Löwe startled her and I struck her lightly at her injured wrist."

"You what?" Kyochi blinked in surprise.

"Calm down. At least I didn't reopen her wound or anything like that," Kouji admitted. "Recoiling back, I took my chance and knocked her off her feet."

This only made Kyochi stare at him in confusion. But then, for some reason unknown, Kyochi laughed.

"You mean to say that you literally outsmarted her in your little battle?" Kyochi asked. Kouji nodded which only made his friend laughed even more. "Now it all makes sense!"

"Excuse me?"

"Don't you see, Kouji-kun?" Kyochi replied, grinning at him. "That's the main reason why Kimi was so determined to hate you."

"Are you saying that your little sister is trying to get back at me this evening just because I knocked her off her feet?" Kouji glared.

"Yes, there's that," Kyochi confirmed. "But mainly because you're the first outsider ever beat her. Kimi always had a bit of a pride in her martial art skills, so she doesn't take kindly to those who have beaten her."

"Is she really that good?" Kouichi cut in, laughing.

"Would you like to see for yourself, Koichi-kun?" Kyochi asked with a sly grin.

Kouichi held up his hands in defense. "Um…I'd rather not!"

Kouji didn't find this at all amusing. Hearing small snickering, he gave Lobo and Löwe a warning glare as they both tried to smother their laughter. "So, should I be expecting any more of her tricks?" Kouji demanded, crossing his arms.

"No, since she already slammed your face on the table, she won't do anything else unless you actually beat her again," Kyochi reassured. He was still trying to get his laughter to subside. "As far as I'm concern, she's already even with you."

"An eye for an eye, huh?" Kouji raised an eyebrow. Kyochi nodded. "That really makes me wonder why Masaki and Takashi are friends with her. No offense, but with that cold attitude, no mystery as to why she doesn't have a lot of friends," Kouji pointed it out.

Kyochi's face suddenly turned somber. What could he do? Kouji was right. Kimi doesn't have any other friends besides those two. Kimi had spent most of her life in the far away Kingdom of Lusteria that was located all the way in Europe. She had not set foot in Japan until after her adopted older brother's death. Yet despite her being Japanese by birth and both of her biological mother and adopted mother being natives, Kimi had still found it very difficult to adjust to her new life here in the Land of the Rising Sun. Kyochi knew that she was suffering from cultural shock and had very much wanted to help her. Despite being fraternal twins, Kyochi wasn't as close to his sister as much as he had wanted due to his intense studies and training into becoming a full fledge doctor. He had wanted to drop out of medical school, but his mother wouldn't hear of it, and Kimi was the same.

"No, you shouldn't give up your dream because of me. I can't stand in your way like this so don't you dare drop out, Nii-san," Kimi had told him. Kyochi could still remember their conversation quite clearly. "Promise me that you won't give up on your education just like that, Nii-san! If you do…then…then I won't speak to you anymore!"

He knew she didn't mean what she had said, but he agreed nonetheless. Yet at times, Kyochi had always felt so guilty every time he passed the outer gate and back into the city whenever his visit ends, only to leave his twin staring off from behind. Kyochi had thought of inviting her to come with him to the hospital, but to his regret, he wished he hadn't. To his surprise, there was something that involved in his line of work that frightens her. Because of that certain difficulty, his sister couldn't come to visit him or his mother while they were at work at the local hospital.

Kyochi was worried about his sister and had feared that she will never get over her cultural shock, or worse…to be lonely forever without him. In truth, Kimi was really suffering from loneliness. Her father was always too busy to mind her enough to even know that she had learn martial arts from her maternal relatives. And her mother, Lady Ren, was too ill and she had already succumbed to her lost over her dead son a little over a year ago. There was no one for her to talk to or anyone to truly understand her. So when the Obon Festival was coming, it was Takashi and Masaki who had the bright idea. They told Kyochi of their plan and he agreed. It was the perfect way to be able to get Kimi out of the mansion and away from the loneliness. Kimi had agreed to come because she wanted to spend some time with Kyochi and didn't mind having him and the others show her around for a bit. The plan was to get her to come with them under her original alias as Kimi Watsuki, not as Princess Kimberly Clairebourne of Lusteria. But then on the afternoon of the festival, she had gotten hurt and Kyochi knew that it was his entire fault. Kimi was having one of her fencing practice with a visiting cousin and was dead set on winning. But Kyochi had called out to her on the sideline. Distracted, Kimi had turned just slightly, and her cousin had gone too far and slashed the back of her wrist, cutting it slightly. Kyochi was the one who performed first-aid, but even then, that was enough for his sister to change her mind. She decided not to go.

_Damn it! _Kyochi thought to himself angrily. _If I hadn't distracted her, Kimi wouldn't have gotten hurt and she would have been able to come with me and the others. Perhaps she would have been able to meet Kouichi and his friends that night and wouldn't have felt as lonely…if only…_

Suddenly, Kyochi had a bright idea. He scrutinized his two friends standing in front of him. He gave a cheerful smile, which only freaked Kouji out a bit on the inside. Kouji wasn't getting him at all. One minute he was somber, the next he was happy. Kouichi thought that like his sister, Kyochi might also be prone to mood swings or something of the sort.

"Kouji-kun, you're a genius!" Kyochi declared.

"Excuse me?" Kouji raised an eye brow.

"What you've just said about Kimi. You've gave me an idea," Kyochi explained.

"How so?" Kouichi asked curiously.

"Guys, since your parents and Kimi's uncle are business partner of the sort, I think that you should let Kimi hang out with you and your friends more."

"WHAT? You, too?" Kouji snapped with discontent. "It's already bad enough that I have to tolerate her for my parents' sake, but you asking us to let her…"

"Please, guys," Kyochi raised his hands in defense as he tried his best to reason with the angry boy. "I really believe that it'll do her some good to actually meet some of your friends. Look, you know that I can't be around with her as much as I want, but I need someone that I can trust to be friends with her."

"But your sister is so…"

"She's not always like that, I told you," Kyochi begged. Turning to face Kouji's cold glares, Kyochi stood his ground. "Kouji-kun, please. You asked me to let you repay me for helping Tomoko-san."

At the mention of his mother, Kouji's glare softened a bit as Kyochi continued, "If you want to repay me, then I would like you and your brother to try to be friends with Kimi and introduce her to your friends, too. I know that you guys are really close with Takuya and the others and it would really help me to know that my sister isn't as lonely here and that she has some friends to actually talk to. I know that you guys can bring the best out of her as I have, but…I just can't do it all of the time. Please, I really need you to do this for me…"

Kouji doesn't like the idea at first, but what could he say? He had made a promise to Kyochi to repay his debt. After all, if it wasn't for him and his mother, Tomoko would still be suffering from her depression and her illness might have gotten worse from it. Kouichi and the Guardian Knights turned towards Kouji, hoping that he'll agree. Kouji sighed. He doesn't like this idea one bit, but he knew that he owe it all to Kyochi for helping his mother, the woman who was not only important to Kouichi but to Kouji as well. See her smiling cheerfully was all he ever wanted.

_Do I really have much of a choice?_ Kouji thought to himself. _After all, I did made a promise and I always repay my debts_.

"Okay, I'll do it…for you," Kouji answered, giving Kyochi a small smile. It was all he could do. If putting up with Kimi's cold personality was the case in every situation that's been thrown at him lately, then it was time to face it on.

Kyochi smiled at this and bowed politely. "Thank you, Kouji-kun…Kouichi-kun…I don't know what to say…"

Kouji was about to respond when Kouichi began to noticed something out of the windows. "Hey, guys," he pointed out. "I think there's a big rainstorm out there in the ocean…I think that it's heading for the city!"

Koji and Kyochi turned their attentions towards the windows as well did Lobo and Löwe. "You're right, Nii-san," Kouji said. "From the looks of those flashing lightning, I don't think this is any ordinary rainstorm at all."

"No, it's a monsoon!" Kyochi exclaimed with wide eyes. "I think it's getting closer to here." He turned to his friends, "Guys, this is bad. I really have to leave for the hospital now while this monsoon is still light enough for me to get there. I have a feeling that once it hits here, too, you and your family will be stranded until it's over. If I'm right, then you'll probably be staying here for the night. If that's the case, I'll tell the servants to prepare the guest rooms for you all."

"We understand, Kyochi-sensei," Kouichi nodded. "Please take care of Ami-chan for us. She really means a lot to our friend, Izumi."

"Yeah, I'll do my best," Kyochi pulled out his cell phone and scrolled down his contact list. "I have your friend's number here, so I'll give her a call to tell her if anything has changed or not. Well, I better get going. And Kouji?"

"Yeah?" Kouji asked.

"Thanks for helping," Kyochi replied with a gentle smile.

"Whatever," Kouji gave a little annoyed air of 'humph!' and turned his face away from him.

Kyochi was about to turn around and leave, but then at the last minute, he turned around and said, "Hey, Kouichi?"

"Yes?"

"It seems as though you're back to your old self today. Are you feeling better from your illness," said Kyochi. This odd statement made Lobo and Löwe's eyes stand up. It appeared that what Gali told them was true. Kyochi may not know it, but perhaps he does possess a unique ability to read people as he is reading Kouichi right now.

"I don't understand what you mean," Kouichi answered nervously.

"Well, it just seems that you were so distant and cold yesterday," Kyochi replied. "They say that when people are ill, they get depressed. So I would have assumed you to be a bit sick yesterday. But today, you've talked a bit more."

"Oh, um…more or less, you're right…" Kouichi didn't turn to face his friend. What was he going to say? That the real reason for his strange behavior earlier was because he was being controlled by a parasite of a vampire?

"It looks to me that you're still trying to recover from its effect," Kyochi continued to note. His dead-set diagnosis had hit all four of them to the core. Just how far can he really read people without even knowing it? "Perhaps if I could make a quick recommendation, I think that perhaps you should rest up a bit and also…don't let my sister's bad mood get to you," said Kyochi with a naïve smile.

And with that, he thanked them again and left them standing in the lonely hallway, all four being utterly confused. Kouji suddenly remembered what Gali had told him before at her house..._Because if you haven't noticed, the bond between you and them have been created…No matter how brief your encounters with them is, a bond has been created, connected you all together in a web of acquaintances and friendship. Value it, and when the time has come for you to depend on it, it shall not disappoint you…_

_Was that woman right?_ Kouji thought to himself, seeing how he had landed in this messy, royal situation. _Is there a bond between us and Kyochi already? And if so, then does that also mean that he, his two friends, and his sister are going to be a part of our group of friends? That's impossible! How can people like Kimi ever become a part of us?_

"Kouji?" His brother asked. He was a bit worried as he placed his hands on his twin's shoulder. Lobo and Löwe nodded their heads quietly. "Kouji, don't worry about it. It'll turn out all right, you'll see…"

Kouji lowered his head. Perhaps he was thinking too much…perhaps Kouichi was right and maybe things might turn out okay. But seeing how the ominous dark clouds being blown closer and closer towards them…he wasn't so sure. It was as if Dusk was getting closer and closer to them with a new plot…Kouji knew that it wasn't over. But whatever the case is, he, his brother, and their new Guardian Knights will be ready for it.

"I'm not ready for this, Kyochi…how could you do this to me?" Kimi yelled angrily.

"You know that you can't stay confined behind those gates forever, Kimi," Kyochi tried to explain as calmly as he could. "You never liked it anyway, and you can't deny that it's going to make you sick again, and as a medical student and your brother, you know I don't want that."

"I'd wished you had talked to me first about it, though," Kimi said defensively.

"I'm sorry, but perhaps I could if you had just stick around a bit longer back then," Kyochi replied and continued to reprimanded her, "And if you hadn't turn dinner and desert into such a cold war, we could all had a decent conversation and talked this through."

"Hmph! Serves that pony-tail right for hitting my wrist," Kimi replied, holding her still bandaged wrist from before.

Sighing, Kyochi took both of her hands in his as he tried to make her look at him in the eyes, "Kimi, it would help all of us if you would try to make a few new friends. I've met the others at the festival and again at the hospital. I can tell that they all have good hearts. Being around them will help lift up your moods."

"And you're saying that we'll have to start tomorrow?" she asked. "Are you sure that you can't come with me? Because I really wished that you would, Nii-chan. If you're there with me, I'd probably feel a little less nervous."

"I'm sorry, but I have to leave right now," Kyochi replied sadly.

"It's that special patient of yours, isn't it? That Ami girl?" Kimi asked with a small smile on her lips. "I understand, Nii-chan. You're becoming a doctor like Mom, and this is just another step closer for you to reach that goal."

"Promise me one thing, Sis?" Kyochi asked.

"What? You're not going to ask me to do something weird, are you?"

"No, but promise me that you'll be on your best behavior," Kyochi laughed. "I know that you have your little spat with Kouji-kun for beating you back then, but please don't do any of that to his friends, okay?"

"Not even a little punch in the arms?" Kimi teased. Kyochi shook his head. "Fine, after all, the plan was that I'm posing as Kimi Watsuki, not the Lusterian Princess."

"Hey, look on the bright side! Takashi-kun and Masaki-kun might run into you. If so, then at least you might find some familiar faces."

"Speaking of which…did Takashi did anything to you that night on the festival?" Kimi asked his with suspicions.

"Um…he…he…swore at me…oh, Kimi! Don't punch him, too! He's our friend," Kyochi stuttered as he then warned her.

"I won't if I run into him next time, I'll just think up of something less violent for his punishment," Kimi teased.

"Well, can't say that he didn't deserved it," Kyochi laughed. Looking at the grandfather clock on the wall, Kyochi got up. "Kimi, there's a storm coming and I have to get to the hospital now while the road is still safe enough for me. Once it hits, our guests are probably going to have to stay here with us until it dies down tomorrow or the next day even. Kimi, I want you to go and apologize to Kouji-kun…tonight."

Kimi didn't really want to but since she had no choice in the matter, she would have to agree. "Fine," she sighed. "Since you've already set me up to hang out with him and his friends and all, it's not like I have much of a choice now."

"Good," Kyochi smiled. Bending over, he kissed his sister on her cheek and bide her good-bye by using her nickname which only he would use fondly enough. "See you later. I love you, Kimchi-chan…"

"Bye…" she replied quietly as his fingers slipped away from her hand in a fleeting moment that implies her reluctances of not wanting to let him go.

Kimi stood by her bay window and watcher her brother getting into the car and later to see it slowly disappeared into the distant city. A few minutes later, the monsoon had at last arrived at Clairebourne Manor and began to pond water and wind on the estate mercilessly. Kimi continued to watch it alone in her room with only her dog Ronnie by her side. Remembering what Kyochi had asked her to do, Kimi slowly got up and was about to turn around and leave when suddenly, she thought she saw something. She turned back towards the window and tried to concentrate. It was difficult to see, as the rain was just sloshing and pounding against her window, barely leaving any visibility outside. Kimi leaned in closer and still nothing. Suddenly, Ronnie's ears perked up and he began to growl at what was sinister outside. Suddenly, Kimi fell backward in fright as what appeared to be black fog with a pair of sinister red eyes slamming itself on her window. This only made Ronnie growled even louder as he got in front of his mistress, trying to protect her.

Kimi looked up to see the red eyes looking down at her…she could feel it's cold eyes scrutinizing her…leaving her entire room to feel cold and dark. The fire in the fireplace and all of the lamps went out, making the girl shrieked as she buried her face and wrapped her arms around her dog in fear.

"NO! Go away!" Kimi cried, raising up a hand against the window. "Whatever or whoever you are, you're not welcome here! GO AWAY!"

Dusk was blown back from the window as soon as she banished him. Strangely though, when the girl raise up her hand in defense, a glimmer of light burst in front of him, knocking him backward and into the darkness of the rain.

Despite his little lost, Dusk smiled wickedly in satisfaction. Dusk's wispy fog-liked soul wasn't allowed to enter the manor so he had to eavesdrop on the twins from the outside. Later, he was trying to observe Kimi and could see how lonely she was when her brother left. But when he tried to get a closer look, he realized that she could clearly see him observing her when she wasn't supposed to be able to. "Interesting," he laughed, "I think you'll make a fine little pawn for me, indeed, my dear…" As light slowly returned to her dark room, Kimi shivered as she got up and left, trying to figure out what she saw was real or not. "Yes…a perfect little pawn indeed."

**Author's note: Sorry for the slow update. I had just transferred to a university and my school works are even more intense here than in college. So there's going to be a very slow update. Originally, this chapter was supposed to be longer, but it got way too long so I'm going to have to cut it here for now. Kimi's cold and somewhat twisted personality is mostly based off of Ruki (Rika) from Digimon Tamers, although Kimi is a lot more cynical at times. The trick in how she made Kouji's chair move was based from Avatar: The Last Airbender when Toph earthbended Aang's chair forward, slamming his face in his food just to keep him shut up. But how Kimi does it will be revealed in the next chapter...**


	22. Invitation and Protection

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Twenty-one: Invitation and Protection**

Luckily for Kyochi, it rained only lightly by the time he got to the hospital. Once he checked in and gave Ami another check-up, he picked up his cell-phone and gave Izumi a call to notify her of her friend's current condition. At that time, it was raining harder outside of the hospital's windows, but at the mall on the other side of the city where Takuya and his friends were, it was only windy. Nearly an hour later, the rain came, pounding the city with such forces that it doesn't appear normal. It was as if it was created from magic…as though someone had conjured it up for some sort of purpose.

Unknown to anyone, Gali's powers allow her to control certain areas in the city. She watched as Kyochi left Clairebourne Manor before finally allowing the monsoon to fall on the estate. But for Kyochi's ride to the hospital, she stopped the water until minutes after he arrived at his destination. Later, after Kaze guided Takuya and Izumi towards her house, Gali blew the monsoon towards her old friend's area as well.

The monsoon was perfectly executed. It was as though Gali is the orchestra conductor, guiding the philharmonic to play their parts in an intricate symphony of music. But there were valid reasons for her doing this.

Ever since Takuya and his friends came into her fortune telling tent, Gali was able to tell that both the goggle-headed boy and Izumi were well-suited for each other. But playing match-makers weren't just intentionally for fun. Both Gali and Kaze knew that these two would have to play their roles together against the battle against Dusk. It was important for the two of them to experience and share this mission of theirs together. There are lessons that they need to learn. Getting them together was a start. But it's not just Takuya and Izumi. When the twins stepped into her tent that night, Gali could tell that Kouji wasn't an easy person to please. Looking deep into his aura, Gali knew that Kouji preferred someone who looked past his exterior and appreciate him for what's beneath.

During their second meeting, Gali was able to tell that he had met Kyochi. Once she got the reading off of him via Kouji's aura, she knew who Kyochi's sister is: the reincarnation of Princess Marina, the love of Prince Jason's young life. However, unlike Marina, Kimi's personality had been molded into that of something bitter. Yet despite some obvious differences in personalities, they both shared one and the same soul. Like Takuya and Izumi, Kimi would play her role in this bloody game as well. Gali knew it was vital for her to play her part and so she knew that it was necessary that the twins would have to meet her sooner or later.

Inevitably, Kousei's business meeting would lead both pairs of twins to meet, but Gali had to ensure that their stay would lead to another path…Kimi has to learn about some of the most important things in life. In order to do that, she would have to meet and get to know Kouji and his friends.

With the monsoon ensuring the Minamoto's isolation at the Lusterian manor, Gali smiled as she watched the scene unfold in the twins' guest room…

Sure enough, they were stranded at Clairebourne Manor. As soon as the twins' parents realized this, their host offered them his hospitality by inviting them to stay until the storm passes. While Kousei and Satomi followed Harrison towards their guest room, the twins and their Guardian Knights were ushered farther down the hall by Kyochi's personal servants. True to his words, Kyochi ordered his servants to prepare his friends' room that felt more suitable to their liking. Although it was still large and foreign-styled, it was as modest and more humble looking like Kyochi's room when compared to their parents' elegant one down the hall. Kouji preferred it this way and so does Kouichi. Frankly after their day, they were getting a little bit weary of being surrounded by too many lavish things in this building.

Kyochi's servants quietly laid out pajamas for them on the bed before two more brought in separate silver platters of warm drinks for them and their "pets".

"What's this for?" Kouji asked, when one of the servants laid a bowl of warm milk for Löwe to drink. Löwe gladly accepted as he meowed in thanks.

"Courtesy of the young Master Kyochi," the servant replied stoically. Reaching into his pocket, he handed Kouji a folded piece of paper. "Master Kyochi asked me to give you this."

"If you need anything else, please feel free to press that button on the bed stand," said a maid. She pointed to a small button on the wall behind their bed stand. "A servant will attend to you shortly afterwards."

The other servants left quietly. The two servants who had spoke bowed to them respectfully before exiting, "We hope you enjoy your stay here."

"Well, that was somewhat…creepy," Kouji scoffed.

"What do you mean?" Kouichi asked.

"I meant the way those two spoke in unison as if…"

"…as if they're twins like us?" Kouichi teased.

"Funny. I meant that they spoke almost in unison as if they were under a spell," Kouji explained.

"Enough of that," Lobo spoke up. "What does the note say?"

Kouji looked down at the forgotten paper in his hand. Opening it, he read it quietly. After finishing it, he only let out a sigh before plopping himself onto the soft bed.

"Well?" Kouichi asked curiously. His brother didn't reply so the older twin made his way to pick up the note to read it himself.

_I'd hope that you'll find your guest room to your likings, guys. I apologize that it might not be as lavish as your parents', but then again…I'd thought that you would preferred it this way to begin with after a long day here. It was the only room that my servants could prepare for you the quickest in such short notice. So although it might be adequate enough in some ways, there's a catch. Please don't think badly of me when I say this but your guest room is stationed a few meters away from my sister's quarters. It wasn't intention and I didn't realized it until I wrote this note…I hope that you won't change your mind because of this Kouji-kun. But please, just relax. Kimi promised me not to bite you guys…much._

_Good-luck!_

_Watsuki, Kyochi_

_P.S. Sorry, Kouichi-kun. But for some weird reason, I have a feeling that you'll probably want to call your mother. The phone is on the bed stand._

After Kouichi and the Guardian Knights re-read Kyochi's note, Kouji got up and walked towards the door.

"What are you doing?" Lobomon asked.

"What do you think? I'm locking us in," Kouji replied, bolting the door shut. "If that chick is sleeping just a couple of meters from this room, I have no intention of letting her in."

"Had enough of cake in your face, I see?" Löwe laughed.

"No, he doesn't want her to embarrass him again," Kouichi giggled. Kouji only gave his twin a warning glare.

"I wouldn't mind seeing that again," Lobo commented while Löwe laughed at this.

Kouji only turned his glare on the animal-liked knights and muttered something like "Traitors…" under his breath.

"Why would you want to see them fight," Kouichi asked curiously.

"Because it reminds us of how much Prince Jason and Princess Marina had bantered before," Lobo explained.

"Jason? You mean one of my past lives?" Kouji commented.

"Yes," Löwe replied. "May I remind you that you're a reincarnate of the Lusterian Prince Jason while James is Kouichi's incarnate?"

"And? What does that have to do with Kimi?"

"If our assumptions are correct, then it is highly possible that Kimi is the reincarnation of Princess Marina—"

"Impossible!" Kouji muttered, clearly annoyed. "No way in hell is that possible."

"We didn't say it was a confirmation," Lobo explained, ignoring the boy's irritation that had clearly been growing more and more constant ever since they met Kimi. "However, the probability is highly possible. Who know? She could be the reincarnation of Marina or maybe not at all."

"You said that they bantered," Kouichi mentioned out of curiosity. "What do you mean by that, you two?" It wasn't unusual. After all, things are starting to look more and more connected everyday. Ever since he ran into Löwe on the last day of school, things are starting to unfold and all of these things, whether big or little, seemed to have a connection to all of them. Kouichi couldn't help himself. He just wanted to know more.

Lobo and Löwe smiled at them as they composed themselves not to laugh. "Well, as you know from your past lives, you had met the Princess of Atlantice. If memory serves, Prince Jason and Princess Marina argued a lot and they had enjoyed it."

"Argued? I thought you said they had a secret affair…"

"When a person tries his best to repel someone, he would find himself attracted to that person," Lobo explained. "To put it into a context that you would be able to understand, it is just simply karma."

"Karma?" The twins gave each other confused looks.

"Yes, and I believed that it is applying to you now, Kouji-kun," Löwe explained. "It's obvious that you're just trying to avoid Kimi. You're putting too much effort to stay away from her as much as possible. But as you can see, throughout the events that you've experienced today, you've just found yourself being forced to do the opposite."

"So in other words, you're trying to say that the more my brother is trying to fight against karma by avoiding Kimi, the more it will ensure for him to run into her," Kouichi surmised. Lobo and Löwe nodded in agreement.

"Great," Kouji pouted, his arm crossed. He doesn't like his choice in the matter. Why does it have to be him? Why must he be forced to endure such a thing?

"It's not so bad, Kouji," Löwe said, wanting to ensure the boy. "You're not the only one to be targeted by karma. It isn't bias against you. It just is. So in some cases such as this, it's best not to fight it. It won't be that bad."

"And if it is, I don't think Kyochi-sensei would ask us to be her friend in the first place," Kouichi smiled. Kouji didn't reply at first. Instead, he leaned back against his pillow on his bed with his arms crossed behind his head. Taking in a sigh, Kouji could feel the softness of the mattress against his body. It was white and soft like a marshmallow, a guarantee for the dream to sleep in total bliss despite the dark storm rumbling outside.

Taking in another sigh, Kouji gave his twin and Lobo an unreadable look before saying, "Let me guess. You're probably going to tell me that locking that door won't keep her out either?"

"Keep who out?" said a strange voice.

The Guardian Knights got to a defensive position quickly so that they could protect their masters. Kouji, alerted, sat up in his bed quickly to face whoever had spoken. Damn it! They were all so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't even noticed a person had snuck up behind them. Kouichi was afraid that it was Dusk, but when he turned around he found a girl leaning against a door. Raising an eyebrow, the older twin was positive that that door wasn't there before. As for the girl…she was unfamiliar at first but then they all realized that it was none other than…

"Kimi-hime!" Kouichi gasped, bowing to her out of respect for a royalty. "Um…good evening?"

"Evening to you, too," Kimi replied with an expressionless face. She was already dressed in her blue nightgown made of fine silk. Her slightly wavy hair wasn't tied up as it was let down gracefully against her shoulders. Her eyes, however, remained the same piercing blue that would put a chill to their warm room.

"How'd you get in here?" Kouji demanded. Kimi pointed her thumb towards the door behind her.

"Secret passage way," she replied. "The architects who designed this estate decided to build them during early construction. There are several of them connecting from one wing to another throughout the entire building. That includes the grounds outside."

"And you know all of them?" Kouichi asked.

"Most of them," she replied.

"Your brother could at least give us a heads up!" Kouji accused her coldly but she didn't seem to notice. Her intent on hating him was starting to get on his nerves. If she felt that he and his brother are a threat, then she should just…

Wait…

Kouji stopped. Kouichi placed his hand on his shoulder. He directed his brother's attention to Kimi with his eyes. Following his brother's gaze, Kouji saw something he hasn't seen before. There was something different with Kimi. Kouichi wasn't the only who noticed the change. Lobo and Löwe felt that there had been a change in the air around Kimi. Wanting to see how it had transitioned, Lobo sat up attentively while Löwe slowly made his way closer to the girl's leg hoping that she wouldn't kick him.

She didn't.

A bit surprised and curious, Löwe cautiously moved closer until his fur brushed against her ankles. When he gazed up, Löwe saw something that he hadn't anticipated. Löwe turned and gave Lobo a look that tells him to do the same. The two Guardian Knights had been through much together for countless centuries. Throughout their many journeys together, the two friends had developed a special way to communicate with each other without speaking. A way in cases such as this, doesn't need the power of words to show the other what they want to express. Lobo looked to where his friends was pointing and saw something unexpected as well:

Fear. There was a clear hint of fear in the girl's eyes. No matter how fierce they may look, her piercing blue eyes couldn't hide the fact that she is afraid. The question is…what? What is she afraid of?

Kouji noticed his Guardian Kinght scrutinizing the girl and he did the same. "Hey, are you okay?" Kouji asked.

His sudden question startled Kimi as she didn't expect him to ask something so bluntly.

"Not really," Kimi answered, knowing that he'll probably see through her lie if she decided to deny it. "Laugh if you want but I thought I saw…"

"Saw what?" Kouichi asked.

Kimi crossed her arms around each other. Whether she did it to warm herself from the chill or to stop herself from shaking too hard he couldn't tell. "I thought I saw someone spying on me…someone with red eyes."

Lobo and Löwe gave each other worried looks as well did the twins. Kouji's expression darkened in concern.

"Are you sure? Maybe you were just hallucina—"

"Trust me, I was not hallucinating!" Kimi glared at him. "My dog saw it, too. Those eyes were staring at me and it even glowed."

"How can you be so sure?" Kouichi asked. "It was raining pretty hard.

"Because, the moment I thought I saw those red eyes, Ronnie got all tensed and began to bark at the window where those eyes were," Kimi explained. "It was dark, but I could make out a shape. It was almost human but…but it was mostly wispy like a black fog or a mist. That mist definitely has red eyes." A thought came to her and she gave them both an annoyed look. "Why do you care anyway? What I saw doesn't seem to be of concern to you, does it?"

"Sorry," Koichi apologized suddenly, making Kimi blink at the response to her question. "It's just that we're trying to be careful since…" He stopped when he caught himself in the act of almost spilling the insane truth about Dusk. The way she had sneered at them lately didn't reassure him that she can handle the fact that perhaps she's being stalked by their worst nightmare of a vampire. When his brother and the Guardian Knights gave him a warning look, Kouichi had to make up the quickest and most logical excuse he could think of to answer her. "We're trying to be careful since the fact that a few people had been attacked, that's all. After all, your brother is one of those victims' doctor, isn't he?"

Kimi's sour expression lightened at this as she leaned back against the frame of the secret door. "Yeah…I guess. But why do I get the feeling that you're hiding something?"

"It's hard to explain," Kouichi replied.

"Forget it," Kouji jumped in. "There's no point in dwelling on something that we don't fully understand. In any case," Kouji crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow at her, "why are you here in the first place?"

"I came to apologize," Kimi replied.

"Excuse me?" Kouji asked but Kimi just sighed impatiently.

"Look, I'm sorry about today, okay?" she said. "I'm sorry that I mistook you for spies working for the press. I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time at dinner and especially during desert."

Kouji's thought went blank for a second. He didn't think that she would actually apologize. The entire day had been crazy and this girl had been driving him crazy ever since her first dagger flew at them.

"And what about the cake in my face?" He insisted.

Kimi, however, only smiled and shook her head. "Not that one. After all, you did deserve it. But for everything else that has happened today, I'm sorry."

There was an awkward silent among them when Kouji didn't give a reply. It wasn't rare, but by now, Kouichi's patience had run thin. He elbowed his brother and cleared his throat. "Don't you have something to say to her?"

"Ow, okay fine!" Kouji said after his twin elbowed him again. Turning his attention back to Kimi he said, "Look, I _accepted_ your apologies. But I have to admit that even if I beat you, you were still pretty good out there."

Kimi raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Am I supposed to be flattered or insulted?"

"What he means is that he we have never seen anyone…especially a girl…who's as talented as you, Kimi-hime," Kouichi jumped in to answer before Kouji could throw another insult at her.

"Why is that? Don't you know any other girls in your little group of friend who can fight?" She questioned them.

"Yes and no," Kouji replied. "The only ones who know how to fight that I know of are in my kendo club. The other one…" His mind wandered to Izumi. At this point, Kouji had to admit that despite her snobbish and bossy nature, Izumi looks like a doll compare to the Lusterian princess. "…The other one isn't all that into fighting."

"Is this girl the same girl that my brother talked about?" Kimi asked, getting a little bit curious. "Is she one of those victims?"

"No, that's Ami," Kouichi explained. Seeing that he's just confusing her more, he tried his best to explain the situation. "Ami's more of a classmate to the most of us. We only know her best through Izumi, who's also one of our best friends along with Takuya and the others."

"How many best friends do you have anyway?" Kimi asked.

"Aside from Izumi Orimoto, there's her unofficial boyfriend, Takuya Kanbara. He's the hot-headed one and the goggle-head of the group," Kouji laughed.

Kimi raised an eyebrow in confusion when Kouji mentioned this. "Unofficial boyfriend? You mean they're not together?"

"He's just joking," Kouichi laughed it off. "There's also Junpei Shibayama. He's the oldest in the group—"

"And the biggest flirt you'll ever find whenever he's around Izumi," Kouji laughed. "Seriously, he always tries to impress her with every chance he gets."

Kouichi giggled as he agreed with his twin. "Every time Junpei-kun tries to impress her, he pretends to be someone he's not. In a way, his plan backfires every time."

This actually got Kimi to giggle which startled the four of them. "That sounds a lot more like something Takashi will do."

Thinking to the first two times they ran into Takashi and Masaki, the twins could remember how much bigger of a flirt Takashi is compared to Junpei. The next thing Lobo and Löwe knew, all three teenagers started to laugh.

"Would you like to meet them?" Kouichi asked once he got a hold of his laughter. "We're planning to meet up with Takuya and the others tomorrow at the park and we might run into your two friends as well. Would you like to join us, Kimi-hime?"

Kimi paused for a moment before answering, "Well, it's not like I can't say no since my twin insisted that I come."

"Is your brother always this persistent?" Kouji asked.

Kimi nodded. "Sometimes but not always."

At this point, the atmosphere in the room was getting a bit uncomfortable. The two brothers couldn't understand why they are feeling this way. Perhaps it just felt a bit too cozy for their liking. Kouichi nudged his brother again to remind him to tell her something. Just when Kouji was about to ask Kimi when it'll be a good time for her to join them, she prepared to leave.

"I should go now. Harrison will inform you when I'm ready."

And with that she closed the secret passage way door, leaving the four of them to discuss what they had just seen.

"There's no doubt about it at all," Löwe declared solemnly. "Dusk is still out there and what Kimi just saw was him."

"But what could Dusk want with Kimi?" Kouichi questioned.

"Most likely he wants to use her as a pawn to get a hold of you again, Kouichi," Löwe answered. "We never knew how he does it but every time he can't get a hold of James' will, he did it by using Princess Marina to his advantages."

"So now it's possible that Dusk is going to target Kimi to get to us," Kouji confirmed as he shook his head in exasperation. "I hate to admit it but now we have all the more reason to get her to join our group."

"Kouji?" Kouichi raised his eyebrows. A few hours ago, Kouji didn't even want to think about inviting her into hanging out with them and their friends, but now he seems dead serious.

"I'm serious, Nii-chan," Kouji replied using his brother's nickname whenever they're in private. "Dusk already controlled you once and if Lobo and Löwe are right, then he's going after you again. But this time it seems that he's planning on using Kimi."

"But she'll end up like…Ami-chan," Kouichi added, his eyes widen in shock. "He used me to attack Ami and now Izumi's upset because of me." A thought came to him as he turned his attention towards Löwe. "But I don't understand. If Dusk is banished, then surely he can't attack the princess without a physical body, can he?"

"No, not physically," Löwe replied. "But that doesn't mean that he can attack her mentally," he added seriously.

"Dusk can control her body and mind without her consent, which is why he resorts into tricking you to accept him at first, Kouichi," Lobo explained. "However, since it is unlikely that she'll do that, he can still attack her mentally."

"How exactly?" Kouji raised his eyebrow in concern. "What can that parasite do?"

"He can give her nightmares, attack her by making her hear only his voice in her head, drive her insane, manipulate certain situations which might trigger a physiological trauma," Lobo said.

Kouji glanced over to his brother and they both nod in agreement. "This is all the more reason to protect her," Kouichi said. "We have to tell her the truth!"

"No, not yet, Nii-chan," Kouji shook his head in disagreement.

"Why not?"

"Because after what had just happen today, she still doesn't believe us," Kouji explained. "I'm not saying that she's truly ignorant, but that she doesn't understand. Deep down, Kimi must know that magic and vampires exist, but she still doesn't understand the entire story."

"Then what do you suggest that we do?" Lobo asked, keened to hear if his master has any better suggestion.

"We'll do what you guys did with us," Kouji smirked confidently. "We'll give her the background story first. But first, we'll have to win her trust. And the only way to do that is to invite her into our group."

"Izumi!" Kouichi exclaimed. "If we introduced Kimi to Izumi, she can win her trust and confidence for us."

"And knowing our blond friend, she won't be able to resist to chat openly, especially to someone who's a girl like her as well," Kouji smiled.

"It seems as though this plan just might be a blessing in disguise," Lobo commented. Kouji gave him a scrutinizing look.

"I don't like the idea of introducing her to the others at first, but my opinion isn't important right now," Lobo and Löwe nodded in agreement. "If Dusk has his eyes on her, then we have to do what is necessary to protect her at all cost."

"You'll both have to keep her safe by keeping her close," Lobo commented.

"And that includes getting to know her more," Löwe added before saying, "And that means the two of you must do this together. Do you understand?"

Before Kouji could reply, Kouichi nodded, "Yes, we're both in this together," he glanced at his brother for his approval. "Right, Kouji?" he asked.

There was a small hesitation at first, but Kouji nodded in agreement before turning his attention back towards the Guardian Knights, "Yeah, like it or not, we're both in this together."

There was a great feeling of relief as Lobo and Löwe looked on their young masters with pride. Like Prince Jason and his many reincarnations who came into being every century, Kouji was not afraid to put aside his feelings and opinions in order to protect someone from Dusk. He wasn't fond of becoming close friend with the Lusterian princess and neither with the idea of inviting her into the group. To him, it would be much easier to leave the manor first thing in the morning and try his best to avoid her as much as possible. But as fate or destiny would have it, it was impossible. Kouji was skeptical when Kyochi asked him to become his sister's _keeper_, but since he always repaid his debt of gratitude, Kouji agreed, although he still didn't like the idea. But now knowing that she could be in danger, he would not be the coward would stand aside a watch the sister of his mother's savior die in cold blood.

"So it's decided then," Lobo said finally, giving the boys a smile. If he was in his human form, he would have put both of his hands on each of their heads and ruffled up their hair as he laughed. "We'll keep an eye on Dusk by keeping an eye on the princess."

"But for how long?" Kouichi asked after Löwe positioned himself on the boys lap. "Surely we can't protect her forever, can we?"

Löwe looked up to face his master before replying, "No, fortunately for us, Dusk won't be able to keep himself alive if he continues like this."

"I'm afraid that I don't understand—"

"It's the lunar eclipse," Lobo explained. "Every century, there is a special full lunar eclipse unlike any other. Dusk has a time limit. If he doesn't have a physical body and if he doesn't drink the blood of a royalty by then, then he'll disappear forever."

"The lunar eclipse is in a few weeks," Löwe confirmed. "We just have to make sure that Dusk doesn't lay a hand on either of you or the princess until then. Knowing that, Dusk will try to do what it takes to get you back under his control, Kouichi."

"And he's planning to do it by using Kimi as a pawn," Lobo replied. "This is why it is so important that we have to reveal to her of the danger and the only way to do that is to introduce her to your friends."

"We will protect her," Kouji decided, sounding more serious and confident of that. He glance at his brother before saying, "And we'll stick together, right, Kouichi?"

Kouichi nodded. "Yeah, I'm with you on this, Kouji."

"And you won't be alone," Löwe added.

"Because we'll be there beside you, too," said Lobo.

"Thanks, guys," Kouichi replied kindly.

"Hey, Nii-chan?" Kouichi asked.

"Yeah? What is it?" his brother asked as he blinked at him curiously.

"Don't you have a phone call to make?" Kouji asked, pointing towards the phone on the bed stand. Kouichi's eyes widen as he remembered his promise to their mother. Apparently when he told Kyochi that their mother is staying in Osaka, the medical student decided to leave a note to tell him where the phone is.

Ever since mother and son said good-bye before parting their ways for the summer, everything has been so chaotic for Kouichi to remember his promise to call her. The moment the phone started to ring, Kouichi made a mental note of the things that he shouldn't tell her.

"_Mushi-mushi_?" said a familiar voice with on the other end. It was their Aunt Kazuha who spoke with a heavy Osaka dialect.

"Hello, Aunt Kazuha? It's us, Kouichi and Kouji," Kouichi replied, trying his best to sound casually happy. "Um, how are you and Uncle?"

"Kouichi-kun? Oh, hello sweety! Yes, I'm fine and so are your cousins and everyone else," their aunt smiled on the other end. "I supposed you want to speak to your mother, don't you?"

"Yes, if it isn't too much trouble," Kouichi replied.

"Oh, you're so sweet," Kazuha complimented. "Wait, here she come, I'll call her for you."

A moment later, Kouichi heard their mother's distant voice despite Kazuha covering the receiver end of the phone. As he pressed the speaker button on the desk, he gestured his brother closer before hearing their mother's voice calling. "Kouichi? Kouji? Are you there?"

"Yeah, Mom," Kouji replied, snatching the phone away from his twin, despite it being on speaker. "It's really us."

"Where are you," Tomoko asked curiously. "The caller ID isn't from your father's house and I can't recognize the number. Are you boys staying at a friend's house?"

Both twins giggled before they replied. "You will never guess where we are right now…"

While the twin tells her of their encounter with the Lusterian royal family, Lobo and Löwe stared out of the window, watching the water running down on the glass door.

"The storm should be gone by tomorrow," Löwe commented.

"Gali only wanted to use the monsoon for tonight," Lobo agreed. "She has no plan to let it continue into tomorrow."

"Can you feel it, Lobo?"

Lobo gave his friend a confused look as he blinked.

"Can you feel him?"

Sighing, Lobo nodded as he stared out into the darkness. "Yes. Unfortunately, my friend, I can sense that Dusk is out there and he's watching this place."

"I hope that we can stop him this time," said Löwe. He sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "I'm so tired, Lobo. I'm so tired of chasing after him. I'm so tired of us losing to him every time. I really wished that we can finally stop that monster. Then we would be able to live the rest of our lives in peace."

"You're not the only one, my friend," Lobo chuckled sadly. He turned his head towards the twins' direction as they finished their conversation on the phone. "I'm tired of this, too. But you know what? I really believe that we might be able to beat Dusk this time."

Löwe blinked in confusion before saying, "How can you tell?"

"Because this time, the twins aren't alone in this," Lobo replied. "I have a feeling that Kaze is back."

"Kaze? The Prophetess?"

"Yes, and this time, we have reinforcement, I'm sure of it," Lobo replied. "Didn't you notice the strong wind before the storm?"

"Come to think of it," Löwe slowly replied as he remembered feeling the wind blowing outside. "Those strong winds weren't normal…" He chuckled at the thought. "So now we have the Oracle and the Prophetess helping us. Do you think Lord Aguni and the others are—"

Lobo shook his head at the mention of the Fire Wizard. "No, I'm sure that Aguni isn't in the city. As for the others, I don't know."

"Well, at least Kaze is better than no one else," Löwe commented. "Let's hope that whoever she chose to help us will actually contribute to Dusk's defeat once and for all."

The two friends smiled secretly as they continued to watch the storm with high hopes that Kaze's contribution will help them in more ways than one. Dusk hadn't seen Kaze in centuries so he wouldn't be expecting her return. Having another powerful ally on their side brought more peace of mind to the two Guardian Knights. It finally became clear for them that the two women had plotted this in the beginning. While Kaze set up her windstorm to summon her chosen children to play their parts against Dusk, Gali did the same by summoning the twins with Kimi (and possibly Kyochi). With their numbers growing, it seems that Dusk's chance of success is finally decreasing.

_Let's just hope that it will be enough,_ Löwe thought quietly as he and Lobo joined their masters. The twins and their Guardian Knights bid good-night to each other and sank into the softest pillows and beds that had ever felt.

Unknown to the other three, a foggy memory from the past slowly crept into Kouji's mind, trying to remind him of something important…something that he had forgotten a long…long…long…time…ago…

**Author's note: I apologize for the delay but university is killing me and it's not leaving me any spare time for leisure and fun.**

**Sorry if this chapter sucks, but it's also important for the developing story. I wanted to show both Kimi and Kouji having a softer side to themselves and to each other and I found a way to do it in this chapter. So, turns out that Kimi isn't as bad as Kouji thought her to be. And whether she's Princess Marina's incarnation is a unknown for now. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can.**

**Please read and review.**


	23. Sick Mother and Riceballs

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Note: There is a character whose name will not be revealed until later, so for now, her name is marked with a **_**—**_** sign.**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Twenty-two: Sick Mother and Rice balls**

After her chat with Kouji and Kouichi, Kimi slowly made her way back through the hidden passage way that connected their rooms together. It was dark but Kimi wasn't afraid as she placed her hands on the stone wall to find her way back to Ronnie at a fork. The dog had been waiting for her to come back and was overjoyed to sense his mistress coming.

"Hey, Ronnie!" Kimi greeted him. "Did you miss me already? C'mon, let's go see Mother."

Instead of heading back to her room from the corridor on the right, the Lusterian princess and her dog turned left that leads them both to her parents' bedroom.

Kimi opened the hidden door quietly and took a peek inside. The room wasn't dark as there were several dim lamps mounted on the walls. Her father doesn't seem to be here yet and Kimi could only guess that he's still in his office. Perfect. She doesn't feel like talking to him at all. Kimi ushered Ronnie to follow her as she closed the hidden door quietly with a soft click.

"Kimi-chan? Is that you, sweety?" said a soft voice.

Kimi turned to find her mother lying quietly on the bed and made her way towards her. She noticed that a tray of medicine was placed on the bed stand and paused for a moment. The pills were scatted across the tray and the glass of water was half empty.

"Good evening, Mother," Kimi greeted as she and Ronnie sat down by the bed. "I see that you've taken your medications."

"If I haven't, Kyochi-kun would scold me and you know how he always make me feel bad when he gives me that look," Lady Ren laughed softly.

"Yeah, Nii-san has his way of making people feel guilty," Kimi agreed.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't make it to your father's dinner party," Ren started.

"Don't worry about it, Mother. You didn't miss much. Father was just listening to Minamoto-san's story on how his financial group became so successful before he offered him a chance to finance Uncle."

At the mention of her brother, Lady Ren frowned with a worried look. "How did it go?"

Kimi looked at her adopted mother before replying, "Sorry for beating around the bush earlier, Mother, but you no longer have to worry. Kousei Minamoto agreed to help finance Uncle's restaurants. Now Uncle Masanori can show Tokyo how great European foods are…including Lusterian cuisines. Soon, Grandfather will be proud of him."

Lady Ren sighed with relief and for good reason, too. Her side of the family is known for their skills and learning of martial arts, but her brother, Masanori, had always been a terrible student when it comes to learning them with the rest of his siblings and cousins. However, he was excellent when it comes to cooking. He had always been a dreamer and when he declared in wanting to start his own chain of restaurants, Ren and her parents were worried. Her family wanted to help but Masanori had insisted that he doesn't want any financial help from his blood relatives so she turned to her husband's side of the family. Unfortunately, there was another problem: her mother-in-law hated Ren and her side of the family.

Kimi's foster paternal grandmother, Gwendolyn, had always disapproved of Ren's marriage to James since the beginning. However, the former Duke permitted since he didn't mind having his children marrying outside of class, let alone outside of ethnicity. Thanks to him, Ren's marriage had been easier despite her mother-in-law's disdain. But ever since the former Duke's death, Ren's mother-in-law tightened her reign and did whatever she could think of to make Ren's life uncomfortable. Although James is now Duke, he still loves and respected his mother. The last this Ren wanted was to see her husband being ridicule by his own mother for helping Masanori.

Fortunately, James came up with an idea; they would help Masanori indirectly by hiring someone to finance and invest in his business for them. James spent weeks searching for the perfect financial group leader to hire only to be disappointed from one person to the next. Ren was worried sick and it took a toll on her health even more. Kimi saw this and started to dislike almost anyone who she considered the cause of her mother's worry. To her, it was their fault for disappointing James and by doing so they made her mother anxious with her illness even more. So when she learned that Kouji and Kouichi are Kousei's sons, she had decided to put the blame on them for Ren's illness as well.

But after all of the excitement that day, Kimi could no longer understand why she wanted to blame the twins in the first place. It was silly because she had never felt this way before. Whenever she's mad at someone, her anger tends to linger and almost no one could change her mind. But after her talk with the boys, Kimi noticed that for the first time she doesn't feel anything and it confuses her.

Brushing the thought aside, she turned to her mother who was speaking to her.

"I'm sorry, Mother? I wasn't listening," she said.

"Kimi, that rarely happens," Lady Ren noticed with surprise. "Something's on your mind isn't it? Do you want to talk about it?"

Kimi shook her head. "No, not really. I don't want to bother you with my concern. You're already anxious enough as it is, Mother."

"Does it have something to do with your uncle's business?" Lady Ren's eyebrow raised with concern. "You said that there's nothing to worry about, didn't you?"

"It's not about Kousei Minamoto, Mother! But one of his sons—"

She stopped before she could continue. Ren noticed her daughter's frustrated expression not just on her face but in her eyes as well. Plus, the princess' cheeks were flushing a bit which only made Ren smiled.

"What?" Ren asked.

"Nothing. Forget it," said Kimi, trying to close the topic.

"This is me you're talking to, Kimi-chan," said Ren. "I know you too long to let you off the hook. So, our client has children?" Kimi nodded slowly. "So what are their names?"

"Kouichi and…Kouji," Kimi replied, but Ren noticed her hesitation as she mouthed the second boy's name. "They are around my age and Father was delighted. He wants us to get to know each other." Kimi scowled at the thought. "I hate it when he does that! Father is always trying to pull us into his business affairs and it has nothing to do with me in the first place, even if he doesn't know it himself!"

"I'm sure your father just wants you to have some more friends, that's all," Ren tried to reassure her.

"I didn't ask for this in the first place," Kimi retorted. "And besides, wasn't it enough that he wanted me to be friends to Takashi and Masaki? Sometimes, I just don't understand him. All my life he insisted that I should stay behind those gates and that I shouldn't interact with the outside world. And now that we're here in Japan, he's having a change of heart and wants me to have friends? Does he think that by doing so I would feel better because I don't have Alan-Nii-chan anymore?"

Ren didn't reply because she knew the real reason. When they were in Lusteria, her husband isolated his children from the press and the outside world because of his mother's influence. Now that they're here in her homeland, Gwendolyn's grip on controlling her son's decision waned. Truthfully, Ren was glad because she doesn't want her children to live a lonely life. Although in reality, Lord James didn't change his ways at first. When they first came to Japan, Ren and Kimi both fell sick and had to hire a private doctor. As fate would have it, the doctor was none other than Kimi's biological mother along with her estrange twin, Kyochi. They had confirmed this through DNA testing. Things got chaotic at first when the truth was revealed: Naturally everyone was shocked and Ren's husband was furious and he even tried to ban Kotone and Kyochi immediately out of habit. Fortunately, Ren's father was presented during that time. He saw how angry Kimi was that he stepped in immediately and refused to let his son-in-law do such a foolish thing. If it weren't for him, who knows how Kimi would reacted later on?

"Don't say that, Kimi-chan," Ren assured. Feeling a bit sore in the side, she shifted her body position in bed before she continued, "You shouldn't be afraid to make some new friends. It'll be good for you if you could spend more time outside of those gates."

"Kyochi-nii-chan said the same thing," Kimi sighed. "He said that it'll be healthy for me. But what if I don't like it out there?"

"All the more reason to give it a try," Ren replied. Taking her daughter's chin, she gently guided her so that both mother and daughter are looking into each others' eyes. "Kimi, do you really want to spend the rest of your life shut away like a bird. I don't want to see you, my remaining child, imprisoned by the haunting remnants and your late brother and your grandmother's influence?"

Kimi didn't reply as her face remained emotionless. Her minds were racing at her mother's cold reminder. True, she was devastated when her brother, Prince Alan, died and meeting Kyochi made it worse. Alan was the only person who could make her life in Lusteria bearable. She hated her grandmother for trying to suppress her life and make mother's difficult. But Alan was always there to calm her cruel grandmother down along with her grandfather. But now that both the former Duke and Alan are dead, there was nothing left in Lusteria that could hold her…so why should Japan have anything either?

Slowly, Kimi nodded before she said, "You're right and I already promised Kyochi that I'll follow our two guests."

Satisfied, Ren sighed with relief and leaned back against her pillow. "So? What are those boys liked? They must be something to make you so agitated all evening."

"Mother!" Kimi blushed which was not a smart thing to do.

"Well?"

"The…the older one, whose name is Kouichi, is a lot more like Kyochi-nii-chan. I can't explain it exactly, but it's like they both have similar manners and the way they speak and act."

"And the other one?" Ren asked.

"His brother, Kouji, is an insensitive jerk!" Kimi scowled at the thought. "He's rude and had the audacity to give me orders when he and his brother got lost in the maze. I have never met anyone who is as condescending and selfish as that ponytail jerk!"

Ren burst out laughing at her daughter's complaint and said, "Kimi, do you like that boy?"

Kimi's eyes widen and she defensively replied, "No! What makes you think that, Mother?"

"I wasn't born yesterday, dear," Ren replied, smiling. "Out of those two boys it's Koji that you talked about the most even though it's mostly criticisms."

"I criticized him because he has so many _flaws_ that need to be noted," Kimi scowled, her cheeks still slightly red from the instant blushing.

"You don't have to deny and be embarrassed about it, Kimi," said Ren. "You might not know it, but the reason you bothered to concentrate on criticizing him is because he intrigues you…"

"He does not!" Kimi insisted. "It's a fact that he's speaks more than his twin, who I swear is even meeker than a Lusterian purple sparrow! Koji scowls too much…"

"Just like you, Kimi," Lady Ren pointed. "This boy must really be something to push you off the edge like this. Maybe he's your type of prince charming."

"I do not have a type, Mother," Kimi cut in, frowning at the thought. "I don't like boys that much to begin with. The only men in my life are my brothers and Father."

"I bet he's really cute," Lady Ren trailed off, ignoring her daughter's complaint.

Both mother and daughter continued their small rant into the late night until Lord James returned from his late night work in his office. After wishing both of her foster parents good-night, Kimi didn't realized that her cheeks still has a small tint of blushing left until she was back in her bed. As she lie with her eyes still opened, she thought about her conversation with her mother and with the twins before that. She remembered that strange cozy feeling she felt in the atmosphere before she bid the boys good-night. It was a strange feeling…one that puts a small smile on her face because, for some reason, it reminded her of something she felt a long time ago…but she couldn't exactly remembered when. She thought about the strange feeling and how longing it felt. She was sure that she had felt that same feeling before but tracking it down in her memory bank was difficult. The more Kimi thought about this the more she was curious. She tried to recall the timeline when she felt that strange feeling but she couldn't and the more she thought about this, the more she failed to realized that sleep finally got impatient with her and finally decided to claim her mind as she slowly drifted off to sleep…

In the morning, she will not remember what she was trying to remember the night before.

The dream started with a memory that Koji didn't even realize that he had because it had happened so many years ago that it became nothing more than a blur to him. Koji couldn't complain since he could see that he was really young in his dream. If age is a matter, Koji couldn't only guess that he was five at the time.

_The five-year-old Koji was running down a street and not paying any attention to some of the people yelling at him to be cautious. He was just too preoccupied right now to even care. What matters now is that he has to keep his promise. It had been a few days since he met that girl who was being bullied by these older boys. After losing a game in baseball, they decided to pick on her to make themselves feel better. Frankly, it wasn't a fair thing to begin with. It was three against one and the boys were older and stronger than her. She wasn't really doing anything other than exploring her grandfather's neighborhood before she accidentally bumped into them._

_Koji had been walking home from his kendo practice when he saw the whole thing. Those boys were picking on her physically by shoving her and pushing her into the ground, soiling her dress and making her cry for their cruel entertainment. As a boy studying kendo, Kouji also studied the ways of being honorable. Seeing the event happening before him, he knew that he couldn't just sit quietly by and let those jerks do as they please just because they lost a game. To Kouji, it just wasn't honorable._

_Frankly, it was the right thing to do but it was also the most stupid. Kouji was fighting fairly well but had sense that the table was just about to turn against him. Kouji was five and those boys were a lot older, bigger, and stronger than him. Just because he's been trained in kendo for a little more than a year doesn't ensure his victory. But luckily for him, the little girl that was picked on came to his assistance just before the table was turned against him. Surprisingly, she knew a little bit of martial arts as well and was pretty good at precision. She aimed tiny pebbles at them while Kouji knocked them down with his wooden kendo sword. After they left, both of them started to exchange compliments and greetings to each other._

"_I'm Kouji. Kouji Minamoto," Kouji had introduced himself then._

"_A pleasure to fight with you, Kouji," said the girl. Instead of bowing she did a little curtsy, "I'm — ." Apparently — came from overseas and was only visiting her grandfather with her mother and brother. She got bored and wanted to explore her grandfather's neighbor a bit and she snuck out of the back door to do it. — had wandered a little bit too far for her own good before she decided that it was best to head back. At first she was lost, but just when she was on the right track again, she ran into those goons who were moping over their defeat in baseball._

_After introducing themselves, both Kouji and — decided that they like each other. Unfortunately it was getting late and the little girl has to return home before her family noticed her absence. Before they departed, they promised to see each other again at the near-by park just down the street from where they met._

_Normally Kouji is a fast runner even for his age and would have shown up on time or even earlier. Today he was late to meet up with his new friend because he was carrying a bag full of snacks that he had just bought. Once he arrived at the small park, he noticed that the girl was waiting patiently as she sat on a swing her feet dangling a few inches above the sandbox._

"_Kouji-kun! You're here!" she cried happily, hopping off of the swing and ran towards him._

"_Yeah, sorry for being late, — " Kouji said, holding up the plastic bag to show her why. "I was getting some snacks. He reached into the back and handed her a rice ball. Do you want an onigiri?" Instead of accepting it, - gave him a curious look._

"_What are onigiri?" the girl asked._

"_Are you serious? How could you not know what an onigiri is?" Kouji scowled in annoyance._

— _wasn't fazed as she folded her arms and scowled back, "I told you! I came here to visit my grandpa. I've never tasted Japanese food before."_

"_You've never tasted food outside of your country before?" Kouji raised his eyes. - nodded. "That's just sad."_

"_Grandma said that they're peasant's food," — replied._

"_Excuse me?" Kouji frowned, a bit insulted._

"_Her words, not mine," — held up her hands in defense._

"_Do you think I look like a peasant?" Kouji asked._

"_I know that you're not like anyone I've met before," — giggled. She stopped and stared at the rice ball in his hand curiously. "What does it taste like, really?" she asked._

"_See for yourself," Kouji replied, tossing it to her. - caught it between her hand and gasped when she almost dropped it. She gave Kouji a look of uncertainty. Seeing this, he reached for another one from his bag and nodded, "We'll take one bit together, okay?" — nodded._

_After the count of three, Kouji and — took a bite out of their white rice balls together in unison. — chewed slowly at first as she paid close attention to the taste. She swallowed, looked at Kouji and said, "It's sticky."_

"_So what's new?" Kouji smirked._

"_Is it always this plain?" she asked._

"_Take another bite," Kouji suggested and she took it._

_After the swallowing it the second time, — 's eyes widen in surprise. "There's something salty in the middle!"_

"_The box said salted salmon," Kouji noted. "I was going to get the pickled plum one, but they ran out of those." He then decided to asked her on what she thought about the rice ball, "So? What do you think?"_

"_It's so plain compared to what I'm used to eating," — confessed but then she smiled and took another bite. "But it was interesting. I like it. Do you have more?"_

_Kouji smiled and took out another rice ball and toss it to her. Finishing up his first one, Kouji decided to help himself to another as well as he and — both sat on the swings. After they finished their snacks, they decided to play hide and seek. Usually Kouji doesn't play this game, especially with his classmates or anyone else for that matter. But while they were eating, — made a comment that she could beat any kid at this game. It was a challenge that he couldn't resist. Soon, Kouji and — took turns hiding and being it. After a while, they panted from all of the running and hiding. Kouji hate to admit it, but she was good…especially at the hiding park._

"_It's getting late," he said._

"_Oh, no! My family will be looking for me!" — panicked. "I have to run back before dinner!"_

"_Lucky you," my dad's working late again tonight so I have to eat alone again," Kouji frowned. — gave him an odd look. "What? What's wrong with eating alone?"_

"_Don't you get tired of being alone?" she asked._

"_Dad can't help it when it comes to his work," Kouji explained as he sighed. "And besides, I'm used to it by now."_

"_Do you want to eat with us?" — asked._

_This surprised Kouji as he turned to face her in shock. "Why would you want to invite me?"_

"_Well, I have to thank you for those rice balls and for playing with me," — giggled. "I've never had this much fun with someone before…except for my relatives, of course! But we barely have anything in common."_

"_Thanks for the offer, but…I'll have to decline. Dad said that my grandparents are dropping by later to check up on me. If I don't show up, they'll yell at Dad again," Kouji said. He got up and brushed the sand off of his jeans. "Maybe next time."_

"_Will there be a next time?" the girl asked curiously._

"_Why not?" Kouji smiled. "How about tomorrow? It'll still be the weekend and I don't have clean-up duty at my school this week. Let's meet back here tomorrow at noon."_

"_You promise?" — asked._

"_Yeah, I swear," Kouji nodded then added, "I can show you that new kendo move that I've been learning. It's really hard but I think I got it down pat."_

"_I like that," — smiled. "And I have something that I want to show you, too."_

"_What?" Kouji asked._

"_It's a surprise, so if you really want to know, you have to come tomorrow and see," — giggled. She got up and brushed the sands off of her dress. "See you tomorrow, Kouji!" She waved before running down the street as the sun began to touch down on the horizon._

"_Yeah, see ya, — " Kouji said quietly before turning toward a corner and headed for his home._

"_See ya, -"_

_See ya…_

_See ya…K—_

Kouji suddenly woke up to see the sunlight as it slowly crawled into the guest room that he and his twin were staying in. He stared at the clock on the bed stand to see that it was still early morning. His brother was still asleep peacefully next to him while Lobo and Löwe were sleeping at the foot of the bed. Kouji smiled and brushed his brother's hair off of his face. This only made Kouichi stir but he didn't wake up.

Lying back down against his pillow, Kouji stared up at the ceiling and began to think about that dream he just had…or was it more like a memory…

_This is the second time,_ he noted. _It's the second time already that I had a dream about that girl…she…she seemed so familiar._

Whether it was a dream about his distant past or not didn't bother him much. But what does was the one part about the content of the dream.

_Have we really met?_ Kouji asked himself. _Did I really share a few rice balls with her? Was she real or just a dream…if she was real, then why can't I remember until now._

Kouji scowled as he played the scenes from the dream in his mind again and noticed something was off. _Why can't I remember her name? Who was she?_

A few miles away, Gali sat outside on her balcony as she took a sip from her morning tea. When the surface of the tea finally settled into a smoothed surface, it reflected Kouji's concentrated face as he struggled to remember the girl's name. He did get anything.

"Don't rush it, Kouji," Gali said. "Memories are never gone forever. They are still there but some of them will remain dormant in your mind for so long that sometimes it will feel like a fantasy once it decided to resurface." She stopped to listen to the early birds chirped and sing. "You will have the dream about that little girl, again, Kouji-kun. Until the day when you finally remember her true name…"

**Author's note: I apologized for the long wait, guys, but I finally got this chapter up and running. Things had been bad for me lately. University work is killing me, I have so many projects that I wanted and needed to get done before summer break, and to make matters worse my grandfather is in the hospital and now everyone on my father's side are going through a family crisis because of this. It's really stressful. I lost a lot of motivation to draw, write, or even studied for my exams.**

**But no matter how depressing it is, I try to keep up with these private and school projects in order to keep my mind busy and a chance for me to escape from the constant depression lately. I guessed that it's just a part of life. When you live, you experience both happy and joyous events as well as the heart-breaking ones as well.**

**This chapter was fun to write and I'm glad that I finally got it done. Those of you might remember that Kouji had had this dream before on the day when his family was about to visit the Clairebournes in chapter 13. The answer is yes, his dreams are contents of his childhood with a precious friend whom he never saw again. We knew from the original series that as a part of his childhood Kouji never got the chance to make a lot of friends because he had to move a lot due to Kousei's job. This got me thinking that he must at least have one good friend before his father's job forced him to abandon his friendship with him/her. So what kind of first friend should s/he be? I've decided that I wanted his first real friend to be a cute girl in a dress who admires him for who he really is. Her name will be revealed later on in the future as this story progresses.**

**And yeah…an onigiri is a rice ball. I'm guess that they're more like a Japanese snack version of the American peanut butter and jelly sandwhich.**

**Please read and review. I need the motivation.**


	24. Dreams of a Lost Memory

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Twenty-three: Dreams of a Lost Memory  
**

"Kouji, you're up already?" said Kouichi.

"Good-morning to you, too, Nii-chan," Kouji replied. By the time Kouichi rubbed his sleepy eyes, his twin was already standing in front of a wardrobe, buttoning his shirt. "Sleep well?"

"I guess," Kouichi replied after covering a yawn. God, he was still feeling a bit groggy. Even though he had gotten enough sleep, the older twin felt that day shouldn't have come for another five hours at least. "How long have you been up?"

"Since sunrise," Kouji replied as he put on the extra pair of pants that Kyochi had laid out for them before. "I couldn't go back to sleep, especially when I have so many things on my mind."

"Like taking Kimi-hime with us to meet Takuya and the others?" Kouichi noted. He got up and walked over to the large windows. As he passed the end the bed, Lobo and Löwe stirred. They blinked the sleep away from their tired eyes and got up. Lobo followed Kouji while Löwe went over to Kouichi. Kouichi smiled and picked Löwe up as they both stared out into the window.

"Looks like it has stopped raining," Löwe commented. True enough, the sun was shining brightly outside as if the storm from last night had never happened. There were two fat sparrows perched on the tree branches right in front of their windows and they were singing their hearts out. Kouichi noticed that Löwe was staring at them hungrily and laughed. As soon as the birds noticed a cat staring at them with ravenous eyes, they flew away in fright. Löwe scowled in disappointment.

"If you're hungry I'm sure we'll get you guys something to eat later," Kouichi said. He walked back to his brother who handed him another pair of clothes that Kyochi laid out for him with another note stuck in its pocket.

"What does it say this time?" Kouji asked.

Kouichi opened the folded paper and began to read, "Dear Kouichi-kun, breakfast will be served at exactly at 7:15 in the same dining hall that we ate in last night. You may order anything you want from the chefs including some special food for your pets."

"I hope that they have roasted quails," Löwe commented at the mention of food. The twins laughed before Kouichi continued to read, "P.S. Your suits should be repaired by tomorrow by Takashi-kun's father. He'll send them back to you as soon as he can. Again, I apologized on my sister's behalf for putting that many holes in your suits."

"Amusing, isn't he?" Lobo laughed.

"Charming," Kouji sighed. "It's like he's too worried that we'll still hate her."

"Can't blame him," Kouichi said, putting on Kyochi's extra pair of casual clothing set. It wasn't surprising to see that they fit like a glove because Kyochi is practically made of the same built as them. "He's so anxious for her because she's been living a sheltered life for years. From what he told us, this is probably her first time outside of those gates, but she's going with us and not him. If I were him I would be concerned, too."

"Do you have any plans for today?" Lobo asked.

"Where do you plan to take the princess?" Löwe added.

Kouji folded his arms and sat down on the beds. "Not the festival since it's over, of course," he looked towards his brother. "But we had to drop by anyway because we promised to meet up with Takuya and the others."

Kouichi smiled and nodded in agreement. "Kyochi-sensei did want us to introduce Kimi to the others. Meeting up with them at our spot in the park is a great start. Plus, we have Izumi-chan. She usually knows more about the best places for a tour."

Kouji nodded as his mind began to wander. In honestly, he didn't mean to. It's just that the conversation suddenly reminded him of that dream he had. He had practically forgotten about it right after his brother woke up, but as they talked more about taking Kimi out, the dream suddenly came back to him like a lost memory that refuses to be lost. Kouichi continued to offer some suggestions but Kouji only bobbed his head up and down since he was still distracted. "…We don't want to bore her so maybe we should take her to some place that might have a connection to her hobbies. Should we take her to see your dojo? Kouji? Kouji, are you listening?"

"Hm…yeah…" Kouji replied indifferently.

Kouichi sighed and shook his head. "Kouji, what's on your mind?"

"I'm sorry?" Kouji was a bit confused and asked, "What were you saying?"

"Kouji, you were spacing out," his brother said. He walked over and sat down next to him. It was extremely unusual for his twin to space out. If anything, it was Kouichi who daydream the most, not Kouji. And when that happens…well, it just doesn't feel right. "Kouji, you were spacing out."

Kouji raised an eyebrow but he didn't deny it. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"What distracted you, Kouji-kun," Lobo asked.

"You'll laugh," Kouji shook his head. He doesn't feel like admitting that he was bothered by a dream. It just sounded silly.

"We won't laugh…much," Kouichi teased gently. He couldn't help himself. Kouji glared at him accusingly but Kouichi retorted it with a concern look. "Seriously, Kouji. What is bothering you? You can tell me."

Kouji sighed in defeat before nodding his head. "Fine," he began slowly, "do you…remember our chat during our walk home on the day of the Obon Festival?"

Kouichi blinked in confusion since he doesn't know where his brother is going with this. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Well…I…hmm…" Kouji couldn't put the words together. It just felt so embarrassing! Even though it's usually easier to talk to his brother, this topic is making him feel really uneasy. To both of their surprise, Kouji's cheeks blossom into a tiny shade of pink.

"Kouji…" Kouichi paused cautiously. "…are you? Are you having girl trouble?"

"No! That's not it!" Kouji denied quickly, but even it doesn't sound so convincing to his brother and himself. He shook his head and sighed. "Okay, I'm coming clean, but you have to promise not to tell Takuya and the others." Kouichi nodded. "Fine… Do you believe in dreams?" Kouichi and the Guardian Knights blinked in confusion.

"Dreams?" Kouichi asked. "What kind of dreams?"

"The kind where it shows you a memory from a distant past but you don't remember it until now," said Kouji.

"What does it have to do with our conversation days ago?" Kouichi asked.

"Everything, Kouichi," Kouji replied. "I told you that I don't like girls asking me out when they can't understand who I really am. And I said that it wouldn't be so bad to know someone who really understands you truly enough and I didn't think that there was any girl like that in this city. But…"

"But what?" Kouichi couldn't deny that he was now intrigued.

"But last night, I just realized that I had met someone like that before," Kouji sighed. "I had a dream of a memory that I could barely remember. It was before Dad met Satomi and I was still in grade school. To be honest, I had the dream the night before, but I didn't realize it until I had another one last night."

"You've met someone?"

"Yeah," Kouji replied thinking about the memory fondly. "A friend. Because of Dad's job, we had to move around a lot, so I didn't have enough time to make any friends at school. But in my dream, I remembered that it was that time when Dad and I settled in a neighborhood for a little longer. That was when I got the chance to meet some classmates and her…"

"Her?" Kouichi blinked.

"A girl," Kouji continued. "She was visiting from abroad and she ran into some kids who lost a baseball game. They saw her walk by and decided to pick on her to make themselves feel better."

"There is no honor in such an act," Lobo scowled in disgust.

"You're telling me," Kouji agreed. "I was walking home from kendo class that day and when I saw what was happening, I knew that I couldn't let it go."

"So you rescued her?" Kouichi asked.

"More or less," his brother replied. "It turns out that she knew some martial art skills as well since she was able to help me fend off those losers. After that, we started seeing each other when our parents were working. She was my first real friend. I…I can't even remember her until now."

"So do you remember who she was?" Kouichi asked. "Maybe we can find her."

"I told you, she lives abroad. I don't even know which country she came from," The expression on Kouji's face sadden as he continued, "I can't even remember her name. I don't understand. Why couldn't I remember meeting her before until now? She was someone who was important to me."

"Do you remember what happened to her?" Kouichi asked.

Kouji shook his head. "I only have what the dreams told me. The one from last night ended where we promised to meet against after our second play date. She said that she wanted to show me something, but even I couldn't remember what that was."

"A lost memory," Lobo commented.

"Not lost, my friend," Löwe added. "Memories don't just disappear. They're still there in our minds."

"If that's true, then why can't I remember it until now?" Kouji demanded.

"Some memories are buried so deep within our minds that they are suppressed into a blur," Löwe said. "Sometime we don't remember them until years later when they are either triggered by an event or they just suddenly emerged back on their own."

"Usually the memories that we forget are the ones that we try to forget because it was too painful to bare," Lobo added. "Perhaps something happened in your childhood, causing you to forget her completely."

"Maybe…" Kouji felt unsure. Unable to put that aside, he asked, "Then why does the memories only come back in the form of dreams?"

"It is said that dreams are gates in communication." The twins nodded. "Perhaps something is trying to tell you that the time has come for you to remember her."

"Do you think it is possible that it's a sign, Löwe?" Lobo asked. The other three gave him a surprised look.

"What are you suggesting, Lobo?" Kouji asked.

"Well, I'm not an expert," Lobo replied. "But perhaps it is possible that your dreams are like a sign and it's telling you that you might meet that childhood friend of yours soon."

"Do you really think so?" Löwe asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, but because of the events that are happening to us now, I won't be surprise if this assumption is true." He turned to Kouji and asked with a serious face, "Kouji, do you remember what she looked like in your dreams?"

Kouji struggled to remember the appearance of his childhood friend as flickers of images unraveled in his mind. "All I can remember is that she has dark hair at the moment. I can't recall her eye colors or her ethnicity."

"It's not much, but I supposed that it's a start," Kouichi reassured. Placing a hand on his brother's shoulder, he said, "Don't stressed yourself too much, Kouji. Maybe you'll have another dream tonight and you'll be able to remember her name by then, too."

"Yeah, I hope so," Kouji said. "It would be nice to see her again."

"You better introduce me to her by then, okay? Or else I'll tell the others that _you_, of all people_, had a girlfriend!_" Kouichi teased as he elbowed him gently in the side. Kouji smirked and wrapped his arm around his brother's neck and with the other arm, messed up his hair.

"I don't think so, Nii-chan!" Kouji laughed as his brother tried to free himself. "You breathe a word about this and you're dead!"

"I can't believe that you had a girlfriend!" Kouichi teased.

"No she wasn't!"

"Yeah, you're right, Kouji. She wasn't your girlfriend," Kouichi smiled deviously. "She was your _first love_!"

"Oh, you are asking for it, Kouichi!"

The twins fell to the floor as they wrestled each other playfully. During their tuss and tumble, they collided with Lobo and Löwe who couldn't get out in time. Kouichi smiled and said, "This is silly. Are we five-year-olds or fifteen?" Kouji smirked and gave him a _you-started-it_ look. All four of them stared at each other in amusement before breaking off with a fit of laughter.

"Now that we're all set, let's go and eat first," Kouji said. At that moment, all four stomachs began to rumble with hunger. Thinking that this was such an embarrassing and hilarious moment, Kouichi managed to laugh at the situation.

"I don't know about you Löwe but I think roasted quails aren't enough to satisfy four of our stomachs."

"Yeah, we're probably going to order a roasted eagle for you instead," Kouji teased. He walked up towards the door and opened it, allowing his twin and their Guardian Knights to existing down the dining hall before he followed suit.

* * *

Rather than leaving right away after breakfast, the twins and their Guardian Knights had to wait for the princess an extra two hours before they all could leave the estate together. It wasn't Kimi's fault really. The Duke had insisted that she should have ten bodyguards with her at all times outside the palace's gate but Kimi insisted that she doesn't need protection. They had a small argument about this during breakfast. Despite the trained calmness in their conversation, the twins could still feel the tension in the air as father and daughter insisted in having their own way and not the other's.

"I refuse to be seen with bodyguards, Father," Kimi insisted. "What you're suggesting is ridiculous."

"Don't be silly, child," Lord James remarked. "Of course you're going with them. No daughter of mine will be left unattended. You're a princess and it is required that you need protection at all times."

"From what, Father?" Kimi demanded. "Protect me from the public and the press? They hardly know what I look like thanks to you."

"If the public finds out that you're Princess Kimberly of Lusteria, they will stop at nothing to get close to you for whatever means they wish for," he said, trying to explain to his stubborn daughter as calmly as he could.

"Of course that's what they're going to do! Why?" Kimi pointed to the light blue dress and yellow dress that she was wearing, "Because if they see a girl wearing a Lusterian outfit and being surrounded by men in suits, it must mean that she's important! I am _not_ going out with your bodyguards! I can defend myself just fine!"

"How?" her father asked stoically. At this point, the twins discreetly lean in to listen. Kyochi said that the Duke is not aware of his daughter's learning in martial arts. How will she be able to explain herself to him this time, they wondered.

Kimi finished her plate and placed her folded hands on her lap. Holding her head high like a proud princess, she calmly replied, "Simple, Father. I will not be going out there as Kimberly, Princess of Lusteria. I will be going as Kimi Watsuki, the daughter of Dr. Kotone Watsuki." Lord James was at loss for words and the twins were stunned. They gave each other surprised looks. They have to admit, she was good. "I will dress myself as a regular citizen and if people asked me for my name, I will say that it is Watsuki instead of Clairebourne. Surely, you cannot refuse to let me use my birth name?"

Lord James still didn't reply as he thought about this. He had to admit to himself that she was right. He could not forbid her from using her real identity and her plan was foolproof that it needs no such elaborate disguise. He sighs before he replied, "I still feel better if you have some protection aside from using your…alias. Will you at least take _two_ bodyguards with you, then?"

Kimi did not smile at this (in fact, she _almost never_ smiled at her father) and said, "Only if they are in disguises."

Lord James could not argue with that. He nodded his head and breakfast was over.

* * *

Of course, that had been an hour ago. Because Kimi insisted that she would wear casual attires, her royal maids started to make a huge fuss on which one she should wear. It was really quite annoying. Her four maids kept bickering over whether their princess should wear a Japanese kimono or a Lusterian summer festival dress. Then they started bickering whether she should wear blue or pink. After that it was how warm or cold she should dress on account of the weather outside. To make matters worse, they started bringing in the hairpins and make-up kits!

Kouji and Kouichi were sitting in the guest room next door and could hear the all of the fussing coming out of Kimi's room. Kouji rolled his eyes and said to his brother, "Women." Kouichi only smiled and shook his head.

Finally, fed up with their indecision, Kimi ordered them to exit the room and leave her be so that she may dress herself.

"But Your Highness, what about the shoes? We haven't decided whether you should wear boots or slippers yet!"

Infuriated, Kimi picked up a red high heel shoes (which she never wore because she never liked) and threw them at the tallest maids. _**"GET OUT RIGHT NOW!"**_

It did not take them long to scramble for the exit. Once the last of them ran out, Kimi slammed the doors to her room. Kouji laughed and Lobo said, "She certainly is something, isn't she?" Löwe smiled as he joined in the laughter. "She reminds me of Prince Jason."

"Kouji didn't throw shoes at his servants, did he?" Kouichi asked curiously.

"No, worse," Lobo and Löwe laughed but in a lower tone so that Kimi doesn't hear them from her room. "If one of them had brought in a tray of tea beforehand, he would throw a cup at them, emptied of course. Occasionally, if there were no tea, Jason would pick up his fencing swords and chase them out."

"So you're saying that compare to my past life, Kimi's an angel?" Kouji raised an eyebrow.

"Exactly my point," Lobo nodded.

Kouichi looked at the grandfather clock in the corner and sighed. "Guys, we're late. The others are probably wondering where we are at this point."

"Yeah, you're right," Kouji agreed, looking towards the window to see the sun itching higher and higher towards the sky behind puffy white clouds. "By the time we get there, it'll be noon already."

"Takuya will probably make a fuss about us again," Kouichi smiled.

"It's not Takuya that I'm worried about," Kouji joked. "It's Izumi's nagging that annoys me the most."

"What do you mean?" Lobo and Löwe asked.

"I mean, Izumi is a girl, so she hates it when one of us makes her wait whether it was accidental or on purpose," the Guardian Knights blinked. "On the night when we met you two at the Obon Festival, she started making a huge fuss when Takuya accidentally left her hanging because he had to drop his brother off at a friend house. She didn't take it so well so she _blackmailed_ him into treating her to make up for lost time."

Kouji was too busy explaining the story that he didn't hear a voice spoke behind him. "So did he agreed or did he put up a fight?"

Kouji immediately jumped back and turned around to see Kimi standing behind him. "Dammit! Will you stop doing that?"

"Do what?" She asked amusingly.

"Stop sneaking up behind us all of the time!" Kouji scowled.

Kimi smirked as she folded her arms and said, "It's your fault for letting your guard down. And besides, why are you talking to your cat and dog?" she pointed to Lobo and Löwe who were both putting on the adorable pet act as they scratched their ears playfully.

"I wasn't talking to them," Kouji insisted, doing his best to lie. She cannot know that Lobo and Löwe could talk especially not what happened last night when Dusk came to see her. "I was talking to Kouichi. Anyway, are you ready?"

Kimi shrugged. "Ready as I'll ever be, I guess." The twins noticed that she looks a bit different now that she's not wearing her princess gowns. Her slightly wavy hair was still in the same style as before. She had chosen a black sleeveless turtleneck top with a gold necklace around her neck, matching the two golden bracelets on her bandaged wrist. She was wearing a light blue mini-skirt over black stockings and black boots. Kimi gave the twins a look and said, "Well? Do I look _normal_ enough?"

The twins had to admit that she not only looked good enough to pass as an ordinary Japanese girl, but she was even more fashionable as well. Kouichi had to wonder if she had spent her free time going through those Italian fashion magazines that Izumi liked to skim through whenever she's trying to find something new to try.

"Yeah, you're…um…" Kouji was at a loss for words. Kimi blinked curiously at his unfinished words. "You're…you look good."

"Um…thanks," Kimi said, a bit disappointed before turning around and heads for the front door. The twins and their Guardian Knights followed suit.

Kouichi lean over and whispered to his brother, "Was that the best you could come up with? 'You look _good_?'"

"What would you have said?" Kouji whispered back. They ran into their parents on the way out and were reminded to stick together before they went back to their business conversation. The teenagers and the pets were soon joined by two bodyguards who were dressed in casual attires as well, save for the earphones and wires in their eyes.

"You could have said that she looked lovely or stunning," Kouichi said.

"Do you really think that someone like me would said that to a girl?" Kouji pointed out.

"No, but surely you're not going to say that to your childhood friend again, are you?" Kouichi asked. Kouji frowned at this because his brother has a point. "If you ever meet her again, you have to be a bit more eloquent."

"I'm not good with girls, Kouichi, and you know that," Kouji pointed out. "Despite what Takuya and the others think, I don't know what to say if I ever meet someone I really like."

Kouichi lean in closer as he whispered in concern, "What are you going to do if you _do_ meet that special person again?"

"I don't know," Kouji whispered back. He looked on as Kimi was talking to her chauffeur. It was the same person who drove the twins and their family to the estate the day before. Instead of a stretch limo, he drove a shorter (but still elegant) car. It was the kind that Kyochi got into yesterday when he rushed back to the hospital where it wouldn't attract too much attention. Kimi was asking the chauffeur to take off the little Lusterian national flag and the other one with the royal family coat of arms. Kouji looked back towards his twin as they waited for the driver to dismantle the car ornament and said, "I don't know how I should approach her once I do meet her again."

"If you want my advice, then I suggest that you should start practicing," Lobo whispered.

"What?" the two brothers blinked.

"If you want to make a good first impression to your precious childhood friend, you should start practicing," Löwe suggested when Kouichi bent down to pick him up.

"With who?"

"Why not her?" Lobo eyed Kimi as she thanked her chauffer once the last flag was taken down. "She might help."

"After how disappointed she looked when you complimented her, I agree with you, old friend," Löwe said.

"Well, Kouji?" Kouichi asked, giving his brother a smile.

Kouji sighed in defeat. "I guessed that it's better than practicing on a complete stranger."

"Are you two coming or not?" Kimi asked. She was already in the car. The four of them made their ways over and got it.

"So where are we going?" Kimi asked.

"We're meeting up with our friends at the park," Kouichi said with a smile. "Trust us, you'll love them, right Löwe?" Löwe meowed in agreement.

"I hope so." Kimi replied quietly as the car made its way past the gate.

For the first time since she arrived in Japan, Prince Kimberly Anne Rowena Clairbourne, or just Kimi Watsuki at this point, had finally came out of the estate without her brother.

A new adventure was about to begin for both her and the twins.

**Author's note: That was fast. So we finally know that the girl from Kouji's dream was not just his first real childhood friend, but she was also someone who liked him for who he truly was on the inside.**

**I could have sworn that I drew a quick sketch of Kimi in her casual dressing and in her medieval dress as Princess Marina somewhere. I'll post it up on my Deviantart page once I find it and have the time to scan it.**

**Don't expect another fast update like this because finals are coming and my stress level is rising as I will be busy writing my final essays and papers.**


	25. The Tenth Member

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Twenty-four: The Tenth Member**

The night was wet, cold, and dark…and Dusk loved it. Normally he would laugh cynically and appreciated Gali and Kaze's contributions by summoning a storm and creating this cold atmosphere. Unfortunately, this was no time for him to be enjoying the dark weather. He was thirsty for blood and without Kouichi as his host he would have to search for another temporary host so that he may feed.

He found another one somewhere near the man-made island of Odaiba. The boy was named Ken Ichijouji and he was just minding his own business in trying to escape the rain. Like Kouichi, Dusk whispered into his mind and summoned Ken's dark thought. He saw how much he was suffering due to his older brother's death and used that memory of guilt to his advantages. Convinced that his parents neglected him in favor of his older brother, Ken agreed to the dark voice and Dusk successfully possessed him.

His next victim was a young man who works at the _Ristorante Italiano del Orimoto_. Apparently, he had a sudden brawl with two fellow employees at the back of the restaurant. Apparently Teresa heard the sudden commotion and alerted her husband. Romano was furious with his employee's behavior and had threatened to fire him on the spot. Fortunately, Teresa convinced to let him off with a lighter punishment. Instead of losing his job, the young man must work an extra five hours. He cursed bitterly to himself as he prepared the food for restaurant tomorrow. He didn't mean to get upset. His girlfriend had just broke-up with him and he couldn't get over it. The other two employees heard about this and tried to cheer him up. Unfortunately, due to their poor choices of words, they accidentally insulted his ex-girlfriend and he just couldn't stand that.

The young man had planned to go to his ex-girlfriend's house and beg her to give him another chance that night. But thanks to his rash behavior, he wouldn't be able to see her tonight.

Unfortunately for him, he wouldn't be seeing anyone for a while now that Dusk had caught a scent of his negative emotion. The last thing the young man saw after he locked the place up was a boy avoiding the light of the streetlamps and he was smiling at him with a savage pleasure in his eyes.

* * *

"Man! Those two are late!"

Junpei was pacing back and forth flipping a copper and nickel coin up and down around his arm without missing a beat. He and Tomoki where the first to arrive at their usual hang out spot at the park while Takuya and Izumi arrived a few minutes later. They had agreed to meet up here on the dot today and so far, only the twins are still missing.

"Urgh! I swear, sometime that Kouji makes me so mad!" Junpei scowled. "He was the one who told us to meet here on the dot! And yet he's the one who's late! Man, sometime I hate him!"

"Kouji must have a reason," Tomoki said, trying for the umpteenth time to reason with his friend. "Maybe he and Kouichi ran into something and it's probably why they're late right now."

"And pray why they haven't called to inform us about it?" Izumi spoke up. Like Junpei, Izumi was losing her patience as well. She just really hates it when boys leave her hanging and not calling her about it. "Honestly, it's only common courtesy to inform us if there's something that's delaying them."

"You said it, Izumi-chan," Junpei agreed but not because he wants to please her. "To be honest, I'm getting sicke of waiting for those two. They were late the last time and they're late right now, too." He sighed and put his coin away in his pocket.

Izumi's temper was rising. She placed both of her arms on her hips and said, "Honestly, if I have to wait ten more minutes for them, I'm leaving!"

"Calm down, Izumi," Takuya spoke up for the first time that day and pointed. "I don't think that we have to wait any longer. I hear voices coming." Izumi pouted in reply and crossed her arms. "Well, it's about time!"

Sure enough, two voices were approaching their special spot. But to their disappointment, they found out that it wasn't the twins as the voices came closer and closer.

"Okay, tell me again why we have to come back here, Masaki?" Takashi kicked a small rock as he and Masaki continued walking.

Masaki shook his head. "I told you. Kyochi-kun called us. He told us to come here," he explained patiently. Sometimes it takes more than a scolding to get Takashi to understand what is going on. It was Masaki's turn to kick the little rock now as they climbed up the small hill. "Kyochi said that we should meet up here and he said that there's a surprise for us."

Takashi's eyebrows raised. "Really?"

"Well, not really. More specifically, he said you were going to be the one who will be surprise the most," Masaki shrugged. "Don't ask me because I have no idea what he really means."

"Hey! You two!" Junpei called from his side of the bench. "What are you two doing here?"

Both Masaki and Takashi looked up to see Takuya and his friends sitting at their usual spot in the park. Apparently, it seems that it's also some other group's spot as well.

Takashi scowled and said, "What are you guys doing in our spot?"

Junpei crossed his arms. "Hey, I asked you first and this is _our _spot! We were here first."

As soon as he said this, Junpei felt someone elbowing him in the side. He turned to see Izumi frowning at him as she said, "Junpei! Be nice!"

"Oh, c'mon, Izumi," Junpei protested. "Don't you start defending him now. Have you forgotten the things he said to you a few days ago?"

"He didn't insult us," she lectured back. "And if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have known what had happened to Ami in first place."

"But we probably would have found out sooner or later," Takuya commented. Izumi gave him an unreadable look but Takuya could tell that her eyes were saying 'you-are-not-helping'.

Izumi shook her head and turned her attention back to the two newcomers, "Sorry, about that. Sometimes these guys can be a bit thickheaded." Takuya smirked at the joke while Junpei pouted at her criticism.

"Hey, no worries!" Masaki said, raising a hand up to signify that he wasn't insulted. "Sometimes Takashi-kun can be like that, too."

"Would you like to join us?" Izumi offered out of courtesy.

"Thanks," Masaki replied. He turned to face Takashi and said, "Might as well, since we were told to wait here anyway."

"Whatever," Takashi shrugged.

"So what brings you here?" Tomoki asked curiously.

"Kyochi called us and told us to come to this spot and wait for someone," Masaki said brightly and gave a shrug. "He said it was going to be a surprise or something like that. What about you guys?"

"We're waiting for Kouji and Kouichi," Tomoki replied. "We were going to hang out today so we told them to meet us here in the park. But usually, they're not always this late."

"Why? Did something happen?"

"You could say that," Tomoki nodded before he continued. "Their dad is doing a business meeting with a new client and he needed his family to be there with him."

"Plus, there was a storm last night," Takuya added. "It probably delayed the entire city one way or another."

He and Izumi had taken shelter in Kaze's home. He could remember talking to Izumi of their…secret mission and Izumi had asked him out. But the next thing they knew, they woke up in their own beds. It was as if the entire thing last night was a dream. But when he called Izumi, she said she remembered the same thing. Izumi also found the magical bracelets in her backpack that Kaze gave her. It was a sure sign that it was no dream.

"I agree. That was such a freak storm," Tomoki commented. "For some reason, it doesn't feel normal."

"I know what you mean," Masaki agreed. "It felt as if someone deliberately pressed a switch-on-monsoon-button all over the city."

"Hey, speaking of things that are not normal…" Takashi began nervously. He turned to face Izumi. "How's your…um…you know…your friend in the hospital?"

Junpei gave him an instant death glare for reminding Izumi of a grim topic, but surprisingly, Izumi smiled and said, "She's much better! Thanks to your friend, Kyochi-kun. Thanks for asking. That was sweet of you."

Takashi blushed and both Junpei and Takuya blinked. Izumi giving someone other than her best friends a compliment? _Well, that was slightly irritating, _Takuya thought. He saw that Junpei was about to make another scene so he decided to come up with another topic or else Izumi would have his head. "So…" he began casually. "Who are you guys waiting for?"

"I'm assuming it's Kyochi-kun, but since he's busy at the hospital, I'm not entirely sure." A leaf from one of the branches above them fell in front of Masaki. He flicked it with his fingers and it blew away after being caught in a passing gust of air.

"Isn't there another person in your group?" Izumi asked. "What about his sister?"

"You mean Kimi?" Masaki asked. "Well, she can't go out much."

"Why? Is she sick or something?" Izumi asked.

"No, she's not supposed to," Takashi replied bitterly. "Her dad is extremely overprotective. He objected to the idea of letting her go out with us to the Obon Festival in the first place."

"Wait a minute," Takuya interrupted. "I'm a little bit confused. He won't let Kimi go out, but what about Kyochi? Isn't that playing favoritism?"

"It's complicated," Masaki replied. "It's probably best not to explain it."

Tomoki suddenly noticed something and tried to stretch in order to see better from where he was standing. Smiling, he said, "Hey guys, Kouichi and Kouji are here and so are their pets." He jumped up on the bench and waved to them. "Hey, guys! Over here!"

Kouichi waved back as he and his brother came closer and closer. Lobo and Löwe followed suite with Kimi on both of her sides.

"Hey, I think someone's with them!" Tomoki said.

"Really?" Izumi stood up to see. At first, it looks as if the girl was just going in the same direction as the twins. But as they got closer, Izumi realized that she really was accompanying them. "You're right, Tomoki," said Izumi. "But that's not Chiaki or any of the girls from our school. I've never seen her before."

"Hey, guys," Kouichi greeted when they finally reached the others. "I'm sorry we're late. We got delayed because of a few…unexpected situations." He glanced at Kimi but her face remained emotionless.

"Well, you could have called to inform us first, you know," Izumi frowned before turning to face the new girl. "So who's your new friend?" Rather than introducing herself, Kimi remained speechless. She looked around and realized that she had never spoken to a group of ordinary citizens before. Or more specifically, she had never spoken to a group of city people around her age before. Frankly, she doesn't know what to say. All of her life, she was used to greeting only her relatives and if it had to be strangers, it was only those who were of political power. The only kids that she were introduced to (not including her brother and Masaki and Takashi) were children of political leaders, royalties, businessmen and women (including Kouji and Kouichi, of course), and various celebrities.

"So what's your name?" Izumi asked. Kimi remained speechless. The words were in her mouth and no matter what she does, she can't make them come out. For a moment, Izumi and the others thought that she was mute, and if she was nervous, she was doing a good job of not showing it. "You do have a name, don't you?" Izumi asked, trying to approach a more casual and relax method. "Where are you from?"

"Hey, Tomoki," Masaki spoke. Out of curiosity, he and Takashi have decided to see what all of the fuss was about. "Who are you guys talking to—Kimi-san!" The young brown hair boy realized that it was Kimi. Takashi heard him and came closer, both of their eyes wide open. The red head couldn't believe it. They couldn't recognize her before because she looked so much like an ordinary city girl in her city clothes. He was speechless when he realized that it really was Kimi and began to stutter at first when he tried to force himself to speak. "K-K-K-Kimi? What are you doing here? And why are you with these two?" he pointed to the twins furiously.

Takuya and his friends' eyes snapped open as wide as a full moon. Takuya pointed at the new girl, "Wait a minute! She's Kimi? _This_ is Kyochi's sister?" Kouichi nodded. Takuya was a bit confused now. "How did you guys ran into each other?"

Kimi gave him a blank look before approaching closer. Takuya and his friends began to notice the details in her appearance. Her eyes were so piercing blue that Takuya couldn't find the right word to speak. He noticed how much she looked like her brother, except her face was more feminine due to her gender and the fact that her hair was so long and flowing. When they first met Kyochi, Izumi was a bit smitten by him. Sure enough, he was handsome, but his sister was gorgeous. Takuya could now understand why Takashi seemed to be so fond of her.

"Hi, Kimi," Masaki spoke. "Sorry, but this is the first time we've seen you out here."

"Likewise," Kimi spoke and smiled at the younger boy. At last, the words came out. Apparently, seeing two familiar faces gave her some courage and Kimi found it easier and easier to speak. "Are you surprised?"

"Yeah, of course. Kyochi-kun called but we didn't really expect to see you," Masaki admitted and gave a big laugh. "Why didn't you come with him? We thought that he was going to bring you here himself."

"I wished, but he's busy," Kimi replied.

"So why are you with them?" Takashi repeated. Needless to say, he was afraid to hear the answer himself. Kimi suddenly remembered what Kyochi told her last night and as she thought about it, she felt a strong urge to punch Takashi. But her twin's words echoed through her head. _Oh, Kimi! Don't punch him, too! He's our friend! _Kimi had promised Kyochi that she wouldn't, but rather, she would pay Takashi back with something less violent. Kimi looked over to see Kouji smirking at Takashi's obvious jealously and realized what she should do.

"Isn't it obvious, Takashi?" said Kimi. She came close to Kouji's side and wrapped both of her arms around his left arm and she leaned on his shoulder. "I'm on a date."

Everyone's eyes widen in shock including the Guardian Knights. Takashi and Takuya gaped at her and Kouji. "You're…w-what?" Takashi sputtered.

"I'm sorry, did I stutter?" she said. "We ran into each other and things just fell into place. So now, I'm on a date. It's as simple as that."

"B-b-but… You don't even know this guy!" Takashi accused.

"Of course I know him," Kimi replied. "Kyochi introduced us."

"But he…how could he?" Takashi cried. "You know I would have taken the liberty of escorting you myself if given the chance! How could you have listen to Kyochi?"

"First of all, he's my brother," Kimi said nonchalantly. "And secondly, Kouji isn't as big of a flirt when I'm around him as you always are." She smiled at him and Takashi appeared as if he was about to break down and cry.

Takuya whistled and said, "Gee, Kouji. It's about time you got yourself a girlfriend!"

Kouji's cheeks blushed at this remark. He turned and glare at his friend furiously. "Shut up, Takuya!" Kouji snapped. "It's not what you think." But since Kouji was too quick to retort, his denial doesn't sound so convincing to any of them, not even to himself.

"What's there to think about, buddy?" Takuya teased. "You know, I always thought that you have bad taste…or no taste at all…when it comes to women. But now…" Takuya walked over ot Kouji's side, brushing Kimi away from him in a friendly manner. He slapped his friend on his back and grinned even wider. "…well, I take it back." He glanced at Kimi's figure. "You really land yourself a big one."

"What are you saying?" Kouji dared him.

"Oh, c'mon, buddy! You know she's hot!"

"Excuse me?" Kimi blinked in confusion. To be honest, she wasn't very familiar to urban slang and terms.

"Takuya here is complimenting you," Izumi spoke up, giving him an annoyed look. Takuya held up both hands in defense.

"Hey, chill!" he said.

"Thank you, but I'm afraid that Kouji's right," Kimi smiled. Now it was everyone's turn to blink in confusion.

"What?" Takashi spoke up, sounded a bit stupid.

"I'm not going out with Kouji," Kimi said flatly.

"But you just…but…what?" Takashi sputtered again. He sounded even more stupid than Takuya just now.

"Let me say this slowly and clearly so that even you will understand what I am saying," Kimi smiled coldly at him. She stepped closer and said, "I am not going out with anyone. I am just teasing you."

"Why?"

Kimi put her hands on her hip and gave him a warning look, "Next time, think before you speak. You are not to swear at my twin whether I'm presented or not."

There was a snicker behind Takashi. "Serves you right for being such a foul mouth, Takashi-kun," Masaki laughed. "Boy, you should have seen the look on your face when you actually thought that Kimi and Kouji were going out!" He turned to face the blue-haired girl, "That was hilarious, Kimi."

"He deserved it," she replied with a sly smile. Takashi felt his checks flushed as they turn bright pink. Seeing this, others couldn't help but laugh.

After everyone have calmed down, Kouichi stepped in and politely introduced Kimi to the others. "Everyone, this is Kimi Watsuki, Kyochi-sensei's twin sister."

One of Junpei's eyebrows arched up. "Fraternal?"

"Naturally," Kimi replied.

"Kimi-hi—Kimi-san," Kouichi said, but he almost addressed her with the Japanese suffix for princess when he realized that she was supposed to be posing as Kyochi's sister. Luckily he caught himself in time before she could notice his slip. He gestured to the others. "These are our friends. This is Takuya."

"Takuya Kanbara," Takuya grinned widely and shook her hand. "And may I saw that you're looking very fine on this beautiful day!"

Izumi purposely cleared her throat. "Ahem! You didn't say that to me this morning."

"Oh, come on. I'm just being friendly, you know," said Takuya, laughing it off.

Izumi rolled her eyes and said, "Takuya, if you grin too much, you'll scare her."

Kouichi and Kouji laughed while Takuya gave Izumi a sheepish look. "And this is Izumi," said Koichi.

"_Ciao_," Izumi greeted in her native tongue. "My name is Izumi Orimoto. It's so nice to have finally met you. Sorry, if my accent bothers you. My family and I have just moved back here from Italy a few years ago."

Suddenly, to Izumi's surprised, Kimi returned her greeting in Italian. "_Italia? Io ci sono stato una volta. È un paese molto bello_," she smiled.

"Hang on a second, you can speak Italian?" Izumi's eyes widen.

Kimi nodded. "Does that surprise you?"

"Well, yes," Izumi replied. "It's not everyday that I meet someone other than my family who can understand what I'm saying."

"How can we? She always does that, you know?" Takuya whispered to Kimi. "Sometimes she just blurts out things in Italian and she tends to forget that no one can understand her. It didn't make her very popular at first."

"Thanks for bringing that up, goggle-head!" Izumi snapped, her arms crossed.

"But I like it," Junpei jumped in. "Honestly, it really makes you unique, Izumi-chan!"

Kimi leaned over to Kouji and whispered, "Is that the boy that you were talking about? The one who flirts a lot?"

"You have no idea," Kouji answered. "He's always trying to make things sound better for Izumi, whether to flatter her intentionally, or he's just being nice because he really likes her."

"Oh, sorry! I'm Junpei Shibayama," Junpei said, taking out a hand for Kimi to shake. She didn't take it. Seeing this, Junpei put his hand into his sleeves and pulled out a little daisy and gave it to her with a smile. "But you can call me _J.P., the Incredible Sparkler_."

"It's a stage name that he came up with for his series of magic tricks," Takuya pointed out.

Kimi smiled and took the little flower. She let it drop to the ground, but before it did, it landed on Löwe's nose. He scratched at it irritably. "I'll keep that in mind."

"And this little guy over here is Tomoki. He's the prince of video games."

"Tomoki Himi," Tomoki grinned. "It's about time that we finally get to see Kyochi's mysterious sister," He added and laughed.

"Am I really that mysterious?" Kimi asked.

"Well, we've heard a lot about you from your friends," Junpei gesture towards Takashi and Masaki.

"It's nice to know that they're still thinking of me," Kimi replied. Takashi and Masaki turned away sheepishly in order to compose themselves.

"And you've met Kouichi and Kouji, of course," Takuya said. Lobo and Löwe gave a quick bark and a meow. "And their mascots, Lobo and Löwe," Takuya added. Kouji glared at him. "Well, now that we've cleared the introduction, would you like to join us, Kimi?"

"Where?" Kimi asked.

"Shibuya shopping district, of course!" Izumi said. "And later, we're going to go and see a movie and drop by my place for some dinner! C'mon, you should definitely come with us. I'll show you all of the best stores in town!"

"Why are you so enthusiastic?" Kimi asked.

Before Izumi replied, she lowered her voice to a whisper. "Because, I really need someone else to talk to…who isn't a boy."

Before Kimi could reply, Izumi grabbed her by the arm and they both ran ahead. But before she started to sprint, Izumi turned to Takashi and Masaki and said, "You guys should come with us, too!"

"Are you sure you won't mind?" Masaki asked cautiously. He hadn't forgotten about what had happened the last time he and Takashi were hanging out with them.

Izumi snorted. "Oh, don't be such boys! C'mon, it will be fun. The more the merrier!" She tightened her grip around Kimi's arm again, ran down the hill and cried, "Last one there has to pay for the popcorns!"

"Hey! No fair!" Takuya shouted, sprinting after the girls. "You have a hostage with you!"

Everyone laughed as they ran to catch up with the girls without a care in the world. Unknown to Takuya and his friends, they were being watched from a distance.

* * *

Shibuya was known for its shops and it was always crowded, especially on weekends. For those who are not from Tokyo, they would have thought that the reason Shibuya was packed was because the people are there for the sakura viewing event or even any of the other Japanese festivals of the sort. Occasionally, one of the kids would see something that they really like, popped into the store for a few minutes and came out to join the others with a bag. For Tomoki, he walked out of a video game store with a small bag. Five stores later, it was Masaki's turn as he disappeared into a book store and came out with six books in his bags. His face was glowing with satisfaction. One look and Tomoki could clearly tell that he finally got the ones that he had been saving up for.

"I didn't think you were into books," Tomoki said.

"Nah, only the ones on computers and robots," Masaki noted, showing him two of his new books. One cover had a picture of computer chips and the other has a little robot that people invented for science conventions. "So what did you get?"

Tomoki reached into his bag and pulled out what he had bought. It was a new game controller, "My old one broke," he grinned at Masaki but then he hissed at the thought of his now smaller allowance in his wallet. "But now, I don't have enough for two!"

"Maybe I can fix it," Masaki offered. "I'm really handy with electronics."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I may not look like it, but I really love inventing. I can even take a computer apart and put it back together." Tomoki remembered the robot book that he had showed him and asked his friend if he could make one of them. Masaki grinned proudly, "Of course! But so far, getting to do what I want is a challenge. I was able to create a robot that brings a bottle to my hungry baby sister. I based it off from one of those Japanese mechanical dolls."

As they continued on, Masaki and Tomoki are finding more and more things about each other and saw how much they have in common, especially when it came to their electronic hobbies. A few steps later, they came across a few clothing and fashion stores. As predicted, Izumi squealed with delight at the latest designs and dragged Kimi into the stores with her.

The waiting took a while and out of boredom, Takashi and Masaki walked up a few paces ahead to look at the next shops' windows. Following their examples, Takuya walked over to the twins who were giving their pets some travel sized snacks. "So…" Takuya began casually, "…how did it go with your dad's business meeting?"

"Boring," Kouji replied and continued to feed his dog and scratch him behind his ears.

Takuya raised an eyebrow at this comment. "How can it be boring this time? You did get to meet that royal family from Lusteria right?"

"I meant the business discussion was boring, Takuya," Kouji pointed out.

"So the rest wasn't?" Takuya laughed. Kouji shook his head and rolled his eyes. Takuya decided to continue his questioning. "So did you get to meet the princess? Izumi's been dying to know what she looks like!" Kouji didn't answer him as he silently tries to come up with a way to not reveal Kimi's secrets. Confused, Takuya glanced at Koichi and asked, "You did get to see her, didn't you?" Kouichi nodded. "Well? What does she look like?"

Takuya's persistence caught Tomoki and Junpei's attentions. They came over quickly to hear the juicy details as well. "Are you guys talking about the mysterious Lusterian princess?" Junpei pressed.

"Well, tell us! Was she pretty? Did you get a picture with her?"

Kouichi nodded and answered cautiously, "You could say she's pretty," his tone suddenly switched to being friendly so that his friends would think that he's teasing, "And she tried to kill us at first sight."

"Kouichi, you really need to work on your sarcasms," Takuya pointed out.

Wanting to change the subject quickly, Kouichi asked, "So how was the book signing event? Did you get to meet the author?"

"Um…yeah, more or less," Takuya said, twiddling his fingers. Ironically, it was now his turn to try and hide the truth from his friends. He really was starting to get uncomfortable about this. He couldn't blame Kouichi. After all, the older twin could not have known that the author, Kaze, is a centuries-old witch.

"Well, what was she like?" Kouji asked.

"Well, she was kind of like Gali," Takuya replied automatically but then he realized his mistake. The twins turned their heads quickly as well as their Guardian Knights.

"Gali? You mean she's…?" Kouichi started.

Quickly, Takuya put up his hands in defense and said, "Um, no! No! That's not what I meant! I didn't mean that she was just like the Oracle. I meant that she was…pretty like Gali."

The twins and their pets didn't seem to buy it at first but seeing how goofy Takuya looks, they relaxed and gave a laugh. "For a moment there, I thought you meant that she did your readings as well," Kouji said, smirking.

"Ha, ha, ha…yeah…like that really happen," Takuya reply, trying to hide the fact that Kaze did in a way gave him and Izumi a reading last night. Apparently Kouji doesn't know how close he was to the truth. It was a close call though. If the two of them were going to find the bearer of the Galis Star, then its best to keep their friends in the dark unless absolute necessary. Ironically, the twins were thinking the same. They can't risk telling their friends of Kimi's real identity nor the connections that they had with Dusk and their past lives. Both sides have decided that it was best to keep the others in the dark in order to keep them safe. What both teams does not realized is that they are all already involved in this twisted fate since the beginning of their summer. It was only a matter of times until they both come to realize that their missions are to meet at a certain crossroads sooner or later.

* * *

In the distances, both Gali and Kaze watched the nine teenagers and the tenth one at the hospital with Ami. Needless to say, they were not the only ones doing their jobs. As the Oracle and the Prophetess watched the events in their separate magical mirrors on different sides of the city, they both noticed something. It appeared at the corner of their magical mirrors. Upon closer inspections, both women noticed that two men are following them from a safe distance. While their attires made them look like ordinary tourists, Gali and Kaze knew better. It wasn't because they were magical that they could tell. Far from it. It was because both women noticed that these men have wires attached to their ears and bulging pockets which could only mean that they're carrying those annoying walkie-talkies. Amused, Kaze opened up a mental link with her friend.

"Gali, did you see that?" she asked. "Who are they exactly? I know that they're not tourists."

"Of course not," Gali replied. "They're bodyguards."

"Let me guess," Kaze mused. "They are there to protect the little Lusterian princess?"

"Indeed," said Gali. "The Duke insisted that his daughter should have them around, but she would only agree if they were in disguises."

"Well, I must admit that they're not doing a very good job at it," Kaze rolled her eyes before adding, "The disguises, I mean. Speaking of which…" Kaze's tone turned cold as she changed the subject. "…Gali?"

"Yes?"

"Where is Dusk right now?"

The question was quick, flat, and serious. Gali didn't answer the Prophetess at first. Instead, she turned on her television set in her living room. Pressing down the higher arrow button, she flicked to the news. Right now, it was weather time. The anchorman on screen was looking down at his notes quickly before informing Japan of the upcoming forecast. It was going to be clear in the next few days. Then, he informed of the coming lunar eclipse. It was to be an event of the century he said. A very special total lunar eclipse which can only happen once every hundred years. For now, the night weather for that moon-viewing event was uncertain. He then advised astronomy fans that they should pray there will be a clear sky by then. The news broke for commercial and Gali returned to her mental contact with Kaze. "The news hasn't reported yet, but in a few minutes, the city will know that Dusk has struck again."

Kaze gasped quietly and asked, "He's using another host isn't he?"

Gali nodded to herself sadly. "Yes, and this time, it's another boy around the twin's age. Ken Ichijouji-kun."

"The boy genius?" Kaze gasped again. "Gali, I knew he was having problems, but I didn't think it was dark enough for Dusk to…"

"Dusk was desperate," Gali pointed out. "He was dying, Kaze. That's why he needed to feed, even without Kouichi as a host."

"If he can't have him…" Kaze began.

"…he'll take the next best candidate," Gali finished grimly.

"And this time, it's Ken," Kaze noted. "But he'll need Kouichi again. Sooner or later, he will have to let Ken go."

"But he won't do it unscathed," Gali pointed out. "By the time he leaves Ken's body, the boy will suffer a great trauma and he will be guilt-ridden."

"Unless there is a flame of hope out there to help him," Kaze sighed. Her thoughts suddenly turned to her own old flame from the past. "If only Aguni was here. He would know what to do and how to help that poor boy…"

"Aguni…" Gali remembered. "Aguni…the Fire Wizard. He was just like us. He was a member of the Ten Legendary Warriors."

Kaze was silent for a moment as she remembered the golden days when she, Gali, Aguni, Dusk, and the other six Warriors were at the top of their game. They had been in control centuries ago. They were part of an order made up of the finest wizards, magicians, and witches in all of the lands. Each one of them had represented one of the ten elements. While Kaze had been the representation of Wind, Gali of Water, Aguni was of Fire. As predicted, Dusk and his brother were the representation of Light and Darkness. But it wasn't the evil darkness. From their names alone, Dusk and his brother, Dawnius, were to represent their everlasting circle of powers from dawn to dusk. But when Dusk betrayed them and his own brother, the dark side of the shadow grew and killed the light. Without light and darkness, the other eight Warriors could not continue to uphold the order.

"The others are gone," Gali reminded her friend. "They're spread across the world and have moved on with their lives. It's up to the two of us to challenge Dusk."

"I know, Gali. I know," Kaze whispered. She felt a tear coming and quickly wiped it away before Gali could notice. No matter how strong she may seem, she must not appear weak, not even to her best friend. "But can we really fight against him with our powers alone?"

"Dusk may be powerful," Gali said, "but he's not invincible. I've already made sure of that when I tricked him."

"He still hates you for it," Kaze replied. "He'll want to strike at you…if given the chance."

"He'll never have it," Gali said confidently. "We've already pitted against him with those children," she glanced back at her magic mirror. On its reflective surface, Takuya and his friends were still talking while the girls were still clothes shopping. "Dusk is without his real body and he still doesn't have the Gali Star. That makes him weak."

Kaze realized how confident her friend sounds. For a moment, she hardly recognized Gali. The Oracle never talked like this before. Does this mean that she knows that they have an actual chance this time? Could they really win against Dusk this time for sure?

"Gali," Kaze began cautiously. "Even if Dusk's is weak now, it still doesn't mean that he's helpless. May I remind you that he's very cunning and resourceful."

"So are we, Kaze," Gali pointed out. "Dusk may have all the dark and twisted manipulative powers and skills in the world, but he will never be able to fight against that one true power…"

"What? What power? You don't mean…?"

"Yes, Kaze. It's _love_," Gali finished. "Can you imagine it? Once Dusk was a creature who was capable of compassion. But since Dawnius's murder, Dusk has yet to experience and understand anything of it. Because of his past life to feel emotions, he believed that he could understand it. That's why he assumed that Princess Marina gave the Galis Star to Prince Jason out of love…but he miscalculated. No thanks to you, Kaze," she added with a mischievous wink.

"Because I managed to convince the princess to give it to someone else?" Kaze questioned.

"Do you remember exactly who she gave the Galis Star to?"

Kaze was silent before she said, "Her brother…the King."

Gali nodded. "And so, Dusk failed to see that love doesn't exist only between the closest friends, but also between siblings."

Kaze nodded in agreement, but she still can't help but feel doubtful. "But that was centuries ago. Can we still fight against him by manipulating love?"

"We're not _manipulating_ love," Gali corrected her. "We're _guiding_ it. Only people like Dusk would manipulate it."

"Whatever the game stage is, Gali," said Kaze. She looked out of her window as doves took flight. "I just hope that we're on the winning side this time. I'm tired of losing, even though Dusk hasn't won either."

Gali nodded. "I hope so, too, my dear friend." She returned her gaze back to her television set. The commercial was over and the news program switched back to breaking news. The topic was murder scenes again, but this time, the camera was showing a familiar place…it was the _Ristorante Italiano del Orimoto_.

Gali shook her head and repeated, "I hope so, too."

**Author's note:**

_**Italia? Io ci sono stato una volta. È un paese molto bello**_**—Italy? I've been there once before. It is a very beautiful country. (Sorry if my grammar might be wrong. I only have my English-Italian dictionary to go by.)**

**Ken Ichijouji is one of the new Digidestined from Digimon season 02. I've been meaning to put him in as a good cameo for this fanfic. Since he also has a dark past, what with losing his brother and becoming the evil Digimon Emperor and all, he would have made an excellent temporary host for Dusk.**

**Originally, this chapter was supposed to be a lot longer. But once again, it got too long for its own good, so I'm going to have to cut it here. The action will be in the next chapter, I promise. I apologized that this chapter took me so long. It's just that I've been going through some tough time lately. First of all, my paternal grandfather passed away about a month ago and it's been hell for the entire family as we all tried to go through the funeral and the mourning period. But life goes on, right? And before you start, I'll answer the questions. Yes, I'm feeling much better since my grandfather's death. Sure, I still missed him like hell, but that's a part of life. I knew that I was going to lose him but I just wasn't prepared to lose him like now. Just goes to show that life can make a turn for the better or worse in just a matter of seconds.**

**Anyway, I'm working on my other projects right now, so this chapter was a struggle to get finished. Especially the middle part of this chapter, it was hell because I kept changing alternated events of how Takuya and his gang would react when they meet the tenth and final member of the team. Kimi's prank on Takashi was planned for a while. I wanted to show how devious she can be, especially when it comes to dealing with Takashi's constant jealously and tendency to overreact against her twin a lot. I was a bit torn between having Izumi excited to meet Kimi or being jealous with the new girl. In the end, it was a little bit of both, but she was happier to be her friends since Kimi can speak Italian like her. Hey, if you were the only girl in a group of eight guys, how would you feel? Of course she's going to be happy to have a new friend who is a girl, can speak Italian, and share her secrets to! Boy, is she in for a surprise in the next chapter…**

**Well, there you go. All ten characters for each ten elements are together…well, not really, since Kyochi's not there at the moment because he's at the hospital with Ami.**

**Please read and review. They motivate me.**


	26. Hemophobia

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter Twenty-five: Hemophobia**

Needless to say, the shopping took up the rest of the morning. The boys didn't really buy much of anything. They only walked and chatted with one another, exchanging news while window shopping at the same time. To make up for it, they were asked (or forced if you want to be a bit more precisely) to carry the girls' bags of spending goodies. Kimi wasn't really keen on the idea, but Izumi finally got her into the habit and lectured her on the "must rules" when it comes to shopping.

"Rule #05!" Izumi lifted a finger to make her point to the new girl, "The gentlemen…" she gestured at the boys, "are there to help us…" she gestured at themselves, "ladies carry our _heavy _loads."

"Isn't that sexist?" Kimi's eyebrow arched up.

"No, it's called common courtesies," Izumi laughed. "Watch and learn, _dwar-ling_," she teased, stretched out the word "darling" and caused Kimi to roll her eyes. Izumi turned to the oldest of the gang, cleared her throat and said, "Junpei-kun, could you help us out? These bags are heavy and they're putting a strain on our muscles."

"Sure thing, Izumi-chan!" Junpei beamed as he ran over to her. "Here, let me! No, don't worry, I'll carry all of these for you. You just relax and take it easy."

"Hey, Kimi-chan!" Takashi panted. He eyed Junpei's muscles and rolled up his own sleeves. "Do you need any help? Here, let me carry these for you! You must be tired after all of that shopping."

"Are you sure you can carry all of that?" Kimi frowned, her arms folded.

Takashi smiled. "Are you kidding? It's only three little shopping bags right?"

Kimi rolled her eyes and turned her head around. Takashi followed her gaze and realized that there were twenty-five more shopping bags and hat and shoe boxes behind them. He and Junpei dropped their mouths wide open. Izumi giggled and said, "Hey, they were on sales!"

After shopping, the nine teenagers speed-walked to the cinema just in time for the next show. By the time they got to the box office, the boys were the ones who were out of breath while the girls are as fresh as daisies. The reason? _All_ of boys had to carry every single one of the girls' shopping bags. Kimi didn't want to buy anything at first since she practically have most of the latest fashion trends on display from Takashi's mother (who is also her personal royal seamstress and fashion designer), but Izumi convinced her to try to get into the fun, Kimi reluctantly agreed to please her because she didn't want to not blow her cover. Kimi reminded herself that she's trying to play the part of a _normal _girl and not one of foreign royalty. For now, the Lusterian princess would have to satisfy Izumi by going with whatever she's into…at least for the time being. After all, Izumi seems to know how to act and talk like a girl so it would have been wise for Kimi to follow her suggestions.

"So what film are we watching?" Takuya asked, putting down four of Izumi's shopping bags in order to check the show and time list.

"What else? We're here to see _Nightfall_!" Izumi replied, clasping her hands together excitedly.

"But I want to watch _The Last Windmaster_," Tomoki replied. Putting down the shopping bags he was carrying, the youngest of the nine kids started to punch the air as he emphasis the meager kung fu moves he knew. "Nothing like a good old action packed kung fu and element wielding show."

"Yeah, I hate to break it to ya, Tomoki," Junpei cut in, "but I heard that film sucks."

Tomoki's eyes widen in disappointment. "What? But you guys like the original animated series, right? Takuya-kun, you even pretended to be a firemaster during your solo soccer practice after we watched the series finale at my house!"

Takuya's cheeks flushed. "Sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about, Tomoki." It was a lie.

Takashi rubbed his aching shoulders. Carrying Kimi's bags full of make-up kits and new dresses that Izumi recommended to her was definitely tiring. "Sorry, but Masaki and I saw that film and it was really terrible. I'm telling ya, that director ruined the show's legacy so badly that I can't believe that he's even considering a sequel!"

"Oh, please! No more!" Masaki rubbed his head to exaggerate his pain. "It was the worst film I've ever seen. Trust us, it's so horrible that it's an excruciating experience in every single category you can imagine and any other new ones that you might make in the future." Masaki held out his fingers and used to them to count the major points about said film. "The story plot was incomprehensible and crushed together into the most pathetic, cheap, and rushed way you can imagine; the dialogues were stupid and are just there to inform the non-fans of what the characters are supposed to do rather than leaving it to body languages or visual languages; and the special effects in three dimension was eye-gouging misuse of technology ever!" He walked over to his new friend and grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him violently, "Please, Tomoki-kun! It's not worth it! Save yourself from the torture!"

"Okay, okay, okay! I believe you!" Tomoki shouted. "Just stop shaking me!"

"So now what?" Kouichi asked. "We've seen most of the other good films that are still in theater right now."

"Um…hello?" Izumi interrupted. She was getting annoyed now especially when they're ignoring her. "We still have _Nightfall_!"

"Isn't that a chick-flick?" Kouji asked, his tone betraying his attempt to hide his snarky attitude.

Izumi glared at him. "All of my girlfriends are talking about it, even Chiaki said that she liked it," Izumi said, hoping that if she continued on, the rest of them will be persuaded.

"Well…I heard that it's the hottest film in America right now," Takashi said as he tried to think it over. "Or at least that's what my sisters are saying."

"C'mon, guys!" Izumi continued pleadingly. "Kouichi-kun, you said it yourself. We've seen most of the other good movies that are still showing right now. _Nightfall _is based on a best-seller book!"

"You do realize that there are a lot of best-sellers novels that got turned into films which aren't as good as the original, don't you?" Kimi spoke up. Everyone turned to face her but she shrugged.

"I don't know, Izumi," Takuya replied cautiously. "Was it a good book?"

"I've read it and it was written by one of Kaze-san's writing colleagues," Izumi replied proudly. "Plus, it has some actions and suspense in it…or…we could watch _The Last Windmaster_—"

"Okay, the two of us are in!" Masaki cried. "Please, as long as we don't have to endure it again, we're good with your choice. Right, Takashi?"

"Um…yeah! Sure!" Takashi grinned sheepishly.

Junpei glared from behind him. He pushed his way toward Izumi and smiled at the others as convincingly as he could. "C'mon, guys. We got like another three hours or so before early dinner starts at the restaurant. We might as well watch it and get an idea if it's really good." Turning to Izumi, he said, "Count me in, Izumi-chan!"

"Fine, since we need a break from carrying all of your girly stuff, I guess we'll watch _Nightfall_," Takuya sighed. Izumi smiled and turned to the twins and Tomoki.

"Well, if Masaki and Takashi said that _The Last Windmaster_ was terrible, then I guess this one will be a better choice…I think…" the youngest boy reply.

"It can't hurt to see it for ourselves, right, Kouji?" Kouichi smiled at his brother teasingly. Meanwhile, Lobo and Löwe quietly snickered to themselves.

Kouji sighed. He glanced at Kimi who hadn't agreed yet and nodded his head at her. "So what do you think?" He asked her.

Kimi shrugged again and replied stoically, "Why must you ask me? You're all my guides, are you not?"

"Fine! Since I'm obviously outnumbered here," Kouji sighed with annoyance. "But I swear if this is a sappy teeny-bobber's movie with a sick and twisted excuse for a forbidden love theme in it, so help me I am going to bolt out of those doors if it gets any worse."

"Perfect!" Izumi smiled. She ran for the lady at the box office, pulled out her wallet and said, "Nine tickets for _Nightfall_ at 14:10, please!"

"Well, what do you know?" Takuya mused.

"Shut up," Kouji growled beneath his breath as they continued to watch the film.

"You were right," Takuya continued, as he passed the popcorn to Tomoki.

"I said shut up, goggle-head!" Kouji snapped.

"This really _is_ a sappy teeny-bobber's movie with a sick and twisted…and let's not forget pathetic, if I may add…excuse for a—"

"I SAID SHUT UP, TAKUYA!" Kouji snapped again.

"Hey, you two shut up back there!" a girl sitting two rows in front of them snapped.

"Yeah! Can't you see that we're trying to watch?" her friend added.

Izumi glared at Kouji and Takuya for embarrassing her in front of the other so-called _Nightfall_ fans. "Will you two stop it?" she hissed quietly. "Can't you two just stop bickering long enough for the movie to end? Geez!"

"Oh, don't tell us that you actually like this crap, Izumi," Takuya whispered back. "Serious, I thought you said that there was going to be some action in this story. But so far, all we're seeing is a sappy, pathetic girl who is obviously a Mary-Sue. She's forcing herself to be miserable and she meets a pathetically hot and extremely pale guy who is hot for her and her so called special blood because he's a vampire and…by the way…he can't even make up his mind on whether he wants to stay away from her or not because he's a _veggie_ vampire…oh…wait, and the girl is obviously obsessed with him in somewhat of a creepy way, despite knowing very well the freakin' danger and risk of being around him. Oh, wait…oh, what do you know?" Takuya gestured towards the screen as the film continued to roll. "He sparkles and glitters…in the sun?"

"What. The. Hell?" came the quiet snide exclamation from Kouji. Rather than reprimanding his own brother like Kouichi usually do, the older twin quietly laughed. He laughed even more when he saw how Kouji cringed at the cheering girls in the audience in front of them.

Takuya turned to see how the other boys are reacting. Junpei and Takashi are obviously trying their best to pay attention to the film and its main vampire character in order to please Izumi and Kimi. As for Tomoki and Masaki, they seemed to be bored and are both nodding off to sleep. And Kimi…? Wait…where is Kimi?

Takuya looked around. He was sure that she was sitting next to the twins when they first came in, but now her seat is empty. He stood up and scanned the room. It was a good thing that they're sitting up far in the back or else Takuya would have been told off by the other viewers for blocking their view. Suddenly, a glimmer of light appeared. Takuya glanced quickly in time to see two big shadows leaving. They were two tourists…or at least they looked like tourists. Wait a minute! Why would tourists bother to watch a movie when they are usually out taking pictures of Japan's capital? When the second man opened the theater door to let himself out, Takuya caught a quick glimpse of his face.

_Hey, I've seen that guy before!_ Takuya thought. Ever since they went shopping, Takuya had a sudden gut feeling that they were being watched. At first, he didn't say anything because Kouji did not appear to be bothered by it. And if his best friend wasn't bothered, then maybe it was Takuya being paranoid and the last thing that he wanted was to have Kouji giving another one of his snide remarks. But Takuya was sure this time that they were being followed.

"This is pathetic," Kouji growled. "That's it, I'm getting some air." He got up and gestured to his brother, telling him that he was going to wait outside.

"Hey, wait up, Kouji!" Takuya whispered, "I'm going with you."

Kouji didn't say anything even after they had both exited the theater room. Kouji kicked a nearby trash can, "I hate vampires," he scowled.

Takuya shrugged. "Yeah…maybe it would have been better if we had watched _The Last Windmaster _or at least something else, huh?"

"I doubted that it would have changed anything," Kouji smirked.

"Yeah, I get what you mean, buddy," Takuya returned the smirk by punching his friend in the arm. "Hey, where's your _girlfriend_?"

"Kimi is not my girlfriend!" Kouji snapped as he gritted his teeth.

"Whatever," Takuya replied, rolling his eyes. "Anyway she wasn't in her seat when we left."

He caught Kouji's attention this time. Kouji gave him a serious look and said, "What do you mean she wasn't in her seat? She was sitting next to Kouichi. If she had left I would have noticed."

"Would you really, buddy? C'mon, you and I were busy criticizing that stupid film!" Takuya pointed out. "She must have thought it was so terrible that she snuck out earlier in order to escape the torment. Smart girl, your girlfriend."

"I told you she's not my girlfriend!" Kouji snapped. "C'mon, let's just go look for her. She couldn't have gone far. If anything happens to her, I'm…" Kouji stopped, his sentence left unfinished as his face paled.

"You what?" Takuya asked with a huge grin on his face. "You're not falling in love with her now that she's missing…are you?"

"No! I'm just worried that Kyochi will dissect me on the operating table if he finds out that I lost his sister!" Kouji snapped and made his way down the hall.

"Whatever, buddy," Takuya rolled his eyes. "You know, she might just be in the ladies room to powder her nose or fix her hair. Let's wait by the door and check."

Sure enough, Kimi was in the restroom like Takuya had guessed. But she wasn't in there because she wanted to fix her hair. The real reason was because she was trying to escape. Once Kimi saw that the film they were watching was a vampire movie, her heart skipped a beat and started to race faster. Without the other's noticing, Kimi quickly snuck out of the theater and ran for the farthest washing room.

Luckily, the women's restroom was empty by the time she got there. Once the door was shut, Kimi started to gasp for breath. It was simply too much and she had to get away. Making her way towards the sink and mirror, she splashed her face with ice cold water as she tried to regain herself. There was no doubt about it, Kimi was afraid but at the same time, she was furious.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid! _She seethed furiously at her own reflection. _Why didn't they tell me that it was going to be a vampire film? _Kimi sighed and looked down at her bandaged wrist. Just the thought about it still makes her stomach churn, her palms sweat, and being overwhelmed by a feeling of dread. Caressing it with her other hand, she noticed that the pain had died, but no doubt that the scar is still there. Kimi had been practicing fencing lesson with one of her visiting cousins from Lusteria a few days ago. When Kyochi came to pick her up, he had called out her name from the other side of the room. Distracted, Kimi turned her attention away from her opponent. By doing so, her cousin had lost her footing and accidentally slashed the backside of her wrist. Although the cut wasn't deep, it still bleeds and stings even after her twin had wrapped it up for her. Yet, despite his help Kimi had lost the motivation to go to the Obon Festival with him. And now, it's happening again.

Kimi didn't feel like going back and join the others. In fact, she didn't feel like putting up with Izumi's ideas of fun either. But then again, she doesn't feel like going back home either. If her brother finds out he would feel as though he had failed her. Thinking about it, she sighed. "I supposed it's not her fault," Kimi murmured under her breath. "That Orimoto girl could not have known that I…" she paused. Her sentence still hanging. "…that I hate anything with vampires in it." Shaking her head, Kimi turned off the faucet.

No one other than her closest family members knew of her deepest secret. It was a secret of fear and because of it, the Lusterian princess tends to be sensitive whenever anyone mention something about mythical blood-sucking creatures.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approached, causing Kimi to jump in surprise. Then the door opened and one of the two men who had been following her stepped in.

"Hey, Kouji!" Takuya whispered.

"What?" Kouji asked irritated. "And why are you whispering? In case you haven't notice, we're in the lobby."

"Do you get the feeling that we're being followed?" Takuya asked.

"Why?"

"Because there are these two guys who have been following us since the park or something," Takuya hissed.

Kouji stopped. He knows the men Takuya was referring to, but not personally. They were Kimi's bodyguards that Lord James had ordered to follow his daughter and Kouji and his friends as well. Knowing how very much Kimi wants her secret identity hidden, Kouji decided to lie and pretend to shrug it off. "They're just tourists, goggle-head. We see them almost everyday here."

Takuya's eyebrows arched up at this comment. "What? Since when do tourists go see a movie in the country that they're visiting in?"

"If they travel across the globe just to see our cultural _kabuki_ plays and _sumo_ wrestling matches, then why not?" Kouji replied snidely.

"Good point," Takuya said, lowering his head in embarrassment. "But seriously, what are the chances that they end up in the exact same places that we're in every single time? I'm telling you, Kouji, they're following us…or more specifically they're following your girlfriend."

Kouji glared at him. "I…I don't know what you're talking about. I told you, they're just tourists. So would you just stop acting like such a paranoid stress-head?"

Takuya seems offended by this and returned the glare. "Oh, I'm paranoid, huh? Well, one of them is standing outside the girls' restroom and his buddy just walked right in. And by the way, Kimi's in there, too. Now, c'mon!" The brown-headed boy grabbed his friend by the arm and dragged him over to the remaining "tourist". "I got a feeling that this could get ugly and whether you like it or not, Kouji, we're both going to stop them before they take advantage of your girlfriend!"

Kouji was shock to hear what his friend was implying. "Takuya, stop! I'm sure she's fine, and they're not doing whatever crazy imagination you think they're doing!" But he was too late. Takuya stopped right in front of the tourist whom immediately went to block his access to the women's restroom.

"Out of my way, fathead!" Takuya yelled.

"Sir, please step back a few paces," said the man. He was definitely not Japanese since the language he was speaking sounds English.

"What?" Takuya seems confused at first and shook his head in order to clear his sudden distraction. "Look here, buddy! I know what you're trying to do!" Takuya pointed at him accusingly.

"Takuya, stop!" Kouji warned him. Unfortunately for him, Takuya just kept on going.

"You're trying to protect your friend in there while he's trying to make a move on Kimi, aren't you?" Takuya pointed at him. "Get out of our way or I'm gonna call the cops on you for taking advantage of a defenseless girl!"

"Takuya!" Kouji warned.

"Shut up, Kouji! Aren't you concern about your girlfriend?" Takuya snapped.

"Sir, I'm asking you again to please step back," the tourist repeated himself. "It is our duty to protect Miss Kimberly from outsiders whenever she is alone, including from you and your friend. Now please step back."

"That's it buddy! I'm going in!" Takuya screamed, rolling up his sleeves before he tried to charge in. But the man just pushed him back with ease and he bumped into Kouji as they both fell to the ground. "You bastard! You're not even a real tourist! You're here to kidnap Kimi and demand a ransom from her brother, are you?"

"Takuya, you idiot!" Kouji snapped. Suddenly, a voice rang behind the tall tourist.

"What is going on?"

All three of them turned to see Kimi standing there, her face furious. To her right, the second tourist stepped out from behind her, his cheeks blushing red. Both men felt her temper rising and quietly stepped back before leaving the building.

Kimi glared at the boys furiously before repeating the question again in a dangerous tone of voice, "I'm going to ask you again. What is going on?"

"Ask goggle-head," Kouji replied. He shoved Takuya off of him before getting up and dusting himself. "He starts getting all paranoid and wanted to act the hero by coming to your rescue."

"My rescue?" Kimi glanced at Takuya. Her piercing light blue eyes were giving him chills especially now when she's furious. "What exactly was his thinking?"

"How should I know? Ask him!" Kouji replied and both of them glared at Takuya.

Takuya was about to defend himself when suddenly Izumi's voice rang from behind him. The others were behind her and they were miserably being weighing down by Izumi's shopping spree collections as well as the ones Kimi had left behind in the theater room. "Hey, there you are! We've been looking everywhere for you and—Takuya, what is going on?" Izumi placed both of her hands on her hips, giving Takuya a what-did-you-do-this-time look.

"Well, I…um…I saw these two guys exiting the theater right after you left, Kimi," Takuya answered sheepishly. "And I swear that they've been following us for a while and when one of them went into the women' restroom that you were in…I thought…well…"

"Oh, Takuya, you didn't!" Izumi slapped her forehead in shock.

"He did," Kouji confirmed. "He starts getting these wild ideas of them plotting to kidnap Kimi so that they can ransom her brother or whatever."

"Why do you always have to try and play the hero?" Junpei asked. "Seriously?"

"How can you be so sure that they weren't just tourists?" Kouichi asked.

"Since when do tourists wear ear buds and have something in their pockets that sounds like those walkie-talkies?" Takuya defended himself.

"Maybe they're part of some exclusive tour group and they don't want to get separate from each other?" Tomoki suggested.

"Okay, so then why was one in the women's restroom?" Takuya pointed out. "His buddy was standing right in front of it as if to sure that no one enters it while he does the work. His friend pushed us down, you know!"

"For your information, Takuya," Kimi spoke up. Her arms were crossed and she was clearly annoyed. "They didn't do anything to me as you can clearly see."

"But the one who went in…" Takuya retorted, trying to prove his case.

"They're foreigners who couldn't read Japanese, you dimwit," Kimi replied. "The man mistook the women's side for the men and he only asked me for direction. Does that clear your answers?"

Everyone gave Takuya a look of either being annoyed, embarrassed, or being sorry for him. Not knowing what to do or say next in order to defend himself, Takuya decided to asked the next best question.

"Okay, then…why did you run away before?" Takuya asked her.

Kimi didn't answer him at first. How could she explain to them the real reason she left was because there was something about the film that frightens her? She hated being seen as a weak girl because people always treated her differently if they knew the truth about her secret. _What do normal city girl say?_ Kimi thought to herself. Glancing at Izumi, Kimi suddenly blurted out the most logical answer that she could think of.

"I needed to fix my hair," said Kimi. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"Um…" Takuya blushed sheepishly as the others glared at him. "…no…I guess not. Sorry."

"Takuya, I swear you are even worse than Kouji when he's paranoid about Gali," Izumi said, her arms crossed again in disdain. "Next time, make sure that all of your evidences are correct before you start pointing fingers!"

"Um, guys," Tomoki spoke up, "if we've gotten the matters settled can we go eat now? I'm kinda starving."

"Yeah, I'm famished as well," Masaki said. Turning to Takashi he asked, "What about you?"

"So long as it's not a deer like in that movie, I'm good. And it has to be close by, because I don't think that I can handle carrying all of these if it's too far," Takashi said and held up both of Izumi and Kimi's shopping bags.

Izumi giggled. "Don't worry, it's only down the street and around the corner," Izumi replied.

"Great! Do you know a good place to eat?"

"Of course! I live there," Izumi and her friends laughed.

Confused at first, Takashi decided to ask the blond girl cautiously, "I'm sorry? But where exactly are we eating?"

"Where else?" Izumi replied, "At my family restaurant, of course!" Izumi walked past him and went straight for the exit of the building. "Don't worry, Takashi-kun, you don't have to pay since the owners are my parents."

As soon as they opened the door to the outside, the nine teenagers were greeted by Lobo and Löwe near the front entrances. The twins bent down to ruffle their pets' fur and secretly whispered their next destination into their Guardian Knights' ears.

"We're going to go have dinner at Izumi's place next," Kouichi said under his breath.

"Are you going to make us wait outside again?" Löwe asked, his stomach growling.

Kouichi laughed and shook his head. "Don't worry, you can sit under our table and we'll pass the food to you."

Kouji made a gesture to show Lobo to follow him. Seeing how quiet his talking dog was, Kouji whispered, "Hey, you okay?"

"Not really," Lobo answered grimly. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Don't worry, the food there are not poisonous," Kouji smirked.

"No, I have a feeling that we're being watched," Lobo replied.

"Now, you're sounding like Takuya," Kouji frowned. "I know we're being followed, but those bodyguards are only following us because of Kimi."

"I wasn't referring to them," Lobo said, his eyes full of seriousness in them. The twins gave each other concerned looks. But before they could asked Lobo what he meant, Takuya called back from the front of the line.

"Hey, whenever you're done back there," Takuya waved as he shouted. "You might want to stop playing with your pets and get your butts up here! Can't you see that we're all starving?"

Izumi sighed. Even though she knew that she and Takuya are on their little secret mission and the fact that she had asked Takuya out…it doesn't mean that Izumi was a little bit fed up with Takuya bantering with Kouji from time to time. She already had enough of that back at the cinema. Izumi sighed again and decided to talk to Takashi and Masaki about Kimi who was silently walking behind her and only had her eyes fixed on the twins. Unknown to the others, Kimi was finding it a bit strange that the twins kept talking to their pets as if they were humans rather than animal companions.

Curious about the new girl, Izumi turned to Masaki and Takashi and asked them about their connected friendship with Kimi.

"So how do you guys come to know her?" Izumi asked.

Takashi blinked confusingly at first. "Huh? Oh, you mean Kimi?" Izumi nodded.

"Through our parents' works," Masaki said. "My dad's the CEO of a company that deals with high-tech computers and security systems. His people installs and fixes those stuffs for Kimi's dad a lot. Sometime I see her whenever I go with him."

"And what about you?" Junpei asked Takashi who blushed a bit.

Masaki laughed and said, "His mom's a famous fashion designer."

Izumi's eyes suddenly widen when the brown-headed boy said this. Curiously, she asked Takashi cautiously, "Your mom's a fashion designer?"

Takashi nodded. "Yeah, my mom's name is—"

But before the redhead could finish his sentence, Izumi finished it for him by saying, "Terrwyn Atsuko, one of the top three fashion designers of the world. She's famous for designing clothes for celebrities, people in politics, and even royalties around the world! And her designs won first place on the catwalk in Milan for the past seven years straight! I heard that her upcoming autumn collection are so expensive that you can't even buy them unless you're super rich! Hey, wait a minute!" Izumi suddenly turned her attention back at Kimi who was still sneaking curious glances at the twins from time to time. Turning her head to face Takashi again, Izumi asked him, "Kimi's clothes…they're…"

"Oh, those?" Takashi smiled proudly. "Yeah, my mom gave them to her last week. I gotta say, Kimi looks perfect in all of my mom's designers fashion sets…um…but I bet you'll look great in them, too!" Takashi added quickly. Junpei glared at him.

"I wished," Izumi sighed. "I've seen your mom once when I was in Milan and I love her fashion styles ever since. But her clothes are so expensive that anyone who is anyone in Italy can only get them!" Izumi sighed again.

"Glad to know that my mom still has her devoted fans," Takashi smirked at Junpei which only irritated him even more. "You know…since I'm her only son, I can also take in some orders for her and you can have them for a much cheaper price than it is in stores."

Izumi eyes widen in glee as she clasped her hands. "Really? Can I order one from her upcoming autumn collect early?"

"Sure," Takashi nodded, then he winked at Junpei who only huffed with irritation. _Ha! Score one for me! _Takashi thought.

"_Fantastico!_" Izumi squealed with delight. She ran back towards Takuya and wrapped her arms around his own and pulled him towards the front of the group. "Takuya, did you hear? Takashi-kun said that I can make a fashion order from him mom and I can wear one of the latest autumn collection before anyone else in school! Isn't that great?"

Takuya didn't answer her. In fact, his face shows anything but happy. It appears that he was…ignoring her? Izumi pouted and crossed her arms, "Takuya? I'm talking to you? What's wrong?"

"Huh?" Oh, sorry, Izumi, but…" Takuya pointed at the sign that says _Ristorante Italiano del Orimoto_. Izumi turned around to see her family restaurant ahead fully crowded with more people than she had ever seen before. "I think there's something going on at your place and it doesn't look good."

Izumi's face flushed instantly from excitement to anxiety before she ran down the street and towards her home. Concerned, the others ran after her but they were all stopped by two policemen and a police woman.

"Stop! I'm sorry, kids, but the restaurant is currently closed and all customers are to be escorted out of the building for further investigation," said one of the policemen.

"What? Investigation?" Takuya gaped.

"What's going on?" Junpei asked.

"But I _live_ here!" Izumi cried. "Where are my parents? They're the owner of this place? Are they safe?"

"You live here, miss?" said the policewoman curiously. But before Izumi could confirm her identity for her, a familiar voice broke over to them from behind the yellow tape line.

"Izumi!" cried the voice as he struggled to wave to her and her friends. "Signorina Izumi! _Per fortuna_, you're are safe!"

"Enrico!" Izumi cried happily as he made his way towards her.

"You know her?" said the second policeman.

"Yes," she's the daughter of my bosses. She and her friends are always welcome here. Please, let them in and I'll take care of them."

"Oh, very well, but please keep them away from the body and the crime scene," said the policewoman. She gestured for the kids to pass as she continued to take down notes for Inspector Megure.

"Body?" Tomoki asked in surprise.

"Crime scene?" Masaki added grimly.

"Enrico, what is going on?" Izumi asked but was afraid to hear the answer. Suddenly, images from the news at the mall flashes through her head. It was one thing to see and hear about the event on television, but it was another when the current event involves you personally. "Are…are my parents...?"

"They're fine, Signorina Izumi," said Enrico as he reassured her. Izumi and the others heaved a sigh of relief, but her fear hasn't been deflated yet.

"Then what's going on?" Izumi asked again.

Enrico sighed and shook his head, "I'm afraid one of our employees was murdered. Your parents found his body this morning just after you left for the day."

"What?" Izumi and the others exclaimed with horror on their faces. Behind them, Kimi quietly gasped and started to back away as if the murderer was right behind Enrico. Takuya decided to step forward as asked, "How did this happen, Enrique?"

"It's Enrico, Signor Takuya," Enrico reminded him before he returned to the grim topic. "I'm afraid that I don't know much about the details."

"How can you _not_ know the details?" he checked, but Enrico just shook his head. "But, buddy! You _work_ here!"

"Most of us employees are being kept in the dark because your parents don't want to alarm us," Enrico explained.

"The less you know the better, huh?" Kouji noticed. Enrico nodded.

"The only thing we know is that the victim was Rinaldo, who stayed behind late last night to finish up his shift. He was about to go home after he locked up the place and that was when he was murdered."

"That's terrible," Tomoki said.

In the middle of all of this shock, Junpei's thoughts cleared enough for him to ask, "Oh, man! You think this is all related to that serial killer case that's been happening since the Obon Festival?"

Before Enrico could answer him, a different voice startled them from behind. "It is possible. Since there are evidence of broken shards of light bulbs from the surrounding street lights just like the previous cases, it is highly plausible that this crime was committed by the same culprit."

The nine kids and Enrico turned their attentions around to face a high school boy not much older than Junpei. He was wearing the blue school uniform of Beika High. His hair was slightly messy but brown in color and his eyes were blue and the way he smirks, his face gave the kids the air of a know-it-all detective. The older teen nodded as a casual greeting as his eyes quickly scrutinize them before resting on Izumi. She blushed instantly as he makes his ways closer to her.

"So your relationship to the decease is the fact that you're his bosses' daughter, correct?" he asked. Izumi nodded. "So tell me, did you see anything strange last night?"

Izumi shook her heard. "No, it was mostly dark and quiet," she said.

"Dark you say?" the older teen continued to question.

"Yes," Izumi replied.

The older teen smirked as though he had gotten all he needed and walked away towards a plump man wearing a coat with a matching hat and an officer who was scribbling down notes. The plump man turned and smiled at the approaching high school student. "Kudo-kun! Thank goodness you're here! We're having some trouble figuring what's going on again just like the first two cases."

"Of course, Inspector Megure. You should know that whenever a difficult cases that baffles the police surfaces, Shinichi Kudo will most certainly be there," said the teenager, now identify as Shinichi Kudo. "So these two must be the owners of this restaurant, correct?"

Tomoki turned towards Masaki and asked, "Who was that? His voice sounds almost familiar."

Junpei smirks and said, "Maybe because he sounds just like your friend from soccer practice. You know? That Taiki Kudo-kun or whatever."

"Well, yeah, they do sound almost the same although this guy's sound much older, of course…" Tomoki continued to ponder.

"His name is Shinichi Kudo and he's that famous high school detective from Beika High who's been solving difficult cases that are always baffling the police." Masaki pointed back at the older teenager. "He's been solving so many hard cases that you always hear about him in the news every time a case is cracked. Even the police are favoring him and he's being nickname the Great Modern Sherlock of the East. I heard there's another one in Osaka and they're being compared as the two great high school detectives of the east and the west."

"If that guy keeps sticking his nose in other people's businesses unannounced he's going to end up in big trouble," Kouji said, glaring at Shinichi. It was as if the teen had eyes on the back of his head because the moment Kouji shot him that glare of criticism, Shinichi turned his head to face him and winked. "I'm serious, he's going to get himself in deep trouble if he keeps this up."

"Forget about him, I have to find out from my parents first," Izumi snapped. She pushed her way through the policemen and investigators. Romano and Teresa Orimoto were being questioned by Inspector Megure and Shinichi Kudo. They turned their attentions away from them as soon as a familiar blond caught their eyes. "Mom! Dad!" Izumi cried.

"Izumi-chan!" Romano exclaimed. His wife hiccupped and wiped away her tears before she grabbed her daughter and hugged her.

"Izumi, where have you been? I've been so worried about you all day!" Teresa cried through tears.

Romano shook his head and said, "I told you there's nothing to worry about, Teresa. Izumi had been with her friends all day. Look, she's perfectly fine."

"Yeah, I'm okay, Mom," Izumi nodded. She turned her head towards Takuya and the others as well as Kimi, Takashi, and Masaki. "I've made some new friends and I thought that we could eat dinner here and all but…" he gaze fell upon the surrounding forensic investigators as they went about their businesses. "…What's going on? What happened to Rinaldo? Is he really…dead?"

Her parents nodded sadly. Her father cleared his throat. "It was my fault, sweety. Rinaldo got into a brawl with the others yesterday and I punished him by making him stay late and finish cleaning the place up. He finished his work and was just about to go home through the back door when someone surprised him and killed him. Your mother found his body this morning just after you left to go shopping with your friends."

"We tried calling you, but your cell-phone was off," Teresa said.

Izumi immediately realized why. "I'm sorry, but we were at the cinema. We had to turn off our phones when the movie started."

Teresa sighed in relief and gave Izumi another hug. "As long as I know that you're safe, dear. Now, enough of this. Why don't you and your friends go upstairs and leave the questioning to your father and I? I'll send Enrico with pizza to you later."

"Yeah, sounds good…I guess…" Izumi sighed. She just was about to walk towards the back when Takuya spoke up, "Excuse me but…was this Rinaldo guy drained of blood like the previous victims as well?"

Izumi's parents and Inspector Megure nodded. Shinichi, however, seemed intrigued. "Yes, he was. And according to Orimoto-san and the coroner, there were no external wounds to the body except two small holes on the neck. It was as if he was bitten by a vampire."

"But that's rubbish, Kudo-kun!" cried Inspector Megure. "Everyone knows that vampires don't exist!"

"True, Inspector Megure," Shinichi nodded. "But the culprit could be someone who's a vampire fanatic or is a member of some vampire cult."

_Dusk! _Those who knew about the vampire gave each their partner looks of concern.

"How did you know about that?" Shinichi asked.

"Because it was the same with Ami, my friend!" Izumi snapped. "Takashi-kun here told us because his family lives near that scene of the crime."

"Ami? Oh, the first victim," said Inspector Megure. "She's the only one who was found alive, right?"

"Yeah, Kimi here has a brother who's a doctor and he's looking after Ami," Izumi pointed out. But the inspector looked confused when she mentioned he female friend. All he could see are boys.

"I'm sorry, but who's Kimi, little girl?" He asked.

"What? She's right—Kimi? Where is she?" Izumi turned around but her new friend wasn't there.

Takashi suddenly spotted her heading for the door. "Kimi! Where are you going?" Takashi cried, but Kimi didn't respond as she pushed her way passed the policemen by the door. "Kimi! Come back! You'll get lost!"

"Damn that girl!" Kouji snapped. He dropped the extra baggage of the girls' shopping bags before running after her. Kouichi instantly gestured their pets to follow as the three of them dashed out of the building. No sooner did Takuya saw the two same tourist from the cinema again that he himself decided to go after his friends. _I knew those guys were suspicious!_

"Takuya! Stop!" Izumi cried.

"C'mon! I'm not mistaken this time!" Takuya called.

Having no choice, Izumi turned to her parents, apologized for leaving them with all of her bought gifts, and ran out of the restaurant with the others as well.

Kimi didn't run far as she gasped for her breath. Unlike what had happened in the cinema, Kimi now has more than one reason to run away. First of all, there were just too much people there because of the sudden crime scene especially with the police and reporters. And to make matters worse, Izumi once again unintentionally gave Kimi trouble by telling that nosy high school detective geek named Shinichi Kudo about her! Kimi had the sinking feeling that the older boy would instantly find out her true identity as a princess if she had stay any longer. The last thing that she wanted was to be in a place full of reporters on her tail if words got out.

But what's worse was the fact that no matter where she went today, her haunting secret kept finding its way close to her enough to make her sweat with fear. Like in the cinema before, Kimi was overcome by a feeling of great despair and her stomach churn.

_I have to get away from here! I have to get as far away as possible!_ Kimi thought desperately.

Kouji and Kouichi's voice rang behind her but she didn't listen. Not looking where she was going, Kimi ran across the street and caused several cars to screech and make a sudden halt. Gasping out of fright, she continued to run.

"YOU CRAZY LITTLE BRAT! CAN'T YOU SEE THE RED LIGHTS?" shouted a driver, his car smashed grazed and scratched. "NO! MY BEAUTIFUL MUSTANG!"

"Kimi-san! Stop!" Kouichi cried from far behind her.

"She's heading for the park!" his brother cried in frustration and noted the minor car accidents that Kimi had caused. "We can't cross that mess!"

"The bridge!" Takuya shouted, pointing at one of the bridges that are built over the streets of Tokyo. "We can get to the park quicker!"

They ran for the bridge, pushing and shoving their ways through the throng that were all staring curiously at the car accident below them. Once they made their way to the other side of the street, Kouji spring forward faster than the others, furious for the trouble Kimi was unintentionally causing him and his friends. Kouichi, Löwe, and the others fell behind, but Lobo was the only one who was able to keep up since he put his dashing abilities to the test.

"That princess is crazy!" Kouji said. "When I get my hands on her, I'm gonna…"

"Kouji!" Lobo shouted as he kept to his master's side.

Kouji turned to give him an annoyed look quickly. "WHAT?"

"It's Dusk!" Lobo warned. "I can sense him and he's nearby!"

"What?" Kouji cried. "Where is he now?"

"He's…" Lobo took another sniff of the air to get another scent. "…he's in the park! The place we were this morning."

"And Kimi's heading there," Kouji growled. "First it was Nii-san and now Kimi. If that bastard thinks that he can lay a finger on her, he's got another thing coming!"

Kimi, meanwhile, was gasping for breath again as she lean against a cherry blossom tree. She noticed that it seems familiar and realized that this was the spot that she had been earlier today when she met the other kids. Holding onto her bandaged arms, Kimi looked around to find herself alone. She had lost them. Both of her bodyguards and her friends were nowhere to be found.

Sighing, Kimi sank to her feet as she tried to calm down and get rid of the feeling of fear and dread that had been overwhelming her.

"I can't do this," she said to herself. "I can't do this at all… I can't be normal and I can't blend in…"

"Gee, and I wonder why," said a voice. Kimi instantly got to her feet and found herself facing a boy around her age. It was that boy genius Ken Ichijouji that she saw on the news recently. He smirks and all Kimi could do was glare. "You know, you seems like a pretty smart girl, yet you don't know how things are done outside of those iron gates. That's pathetic."

"What do you know?" she spat.

"More than you, of course," Ken laughed. Kimi felt a chill running down her spine. There was just something about him that doesn't seem normal and it's making her skin crawl. "Your brother and your friends are trying to get help you get over your little culture shock ever since you moved here. But knowing how much you love them, you went as far as pretending to act like a normal city girl by going along with that Izumi's ideas of fun. Really, that's just sad."

Kimi gasped and froze. "You've been spying on me?"

"Well, I'm not a boy genius for nothing you know," Ken smirked before he continued, "but you have another problem, don't you?" Ken suggested. "I know why you weren't here on the night of the Obon Festival. I know why you suddenly left the room last night when your father's guests started to talk about that vampire-liked case. I know why you ran out of the theater after seeing what kind of movie it was. And I know why you just ran away from that restaurant. Really, they all have one thing in common…Princess Kimberly."

Kimi gasped at his knowledge of her identity. Looking into his eyes, she realized that they were the same optical pairs that had been watching her last night from her bedroom window. "Ah, now you see that it was me from last night, huh?" Ken laughed, but then his laughter turned into something that shows his annoyance. "And then you banished me when you cried out back then, and let me warn you this girl, I don't take no for an answer!"

"Get away from me, you freak!" Kimi screamed, slapping him in the face. She ran down the hill and towards a pathway. The sun was setting and the streetlamps near that pathway was slowly flickering to life one by one.

Surprised at her outburst, Ken glared at her viciously as he approached with a sickening smile that doesn't seem human. After that bloody meal last night, he had regain a few new powers. He raised a fist and the ground beneath him shook slightly. Surprised by the suddenly tremble of earth, Kimi tripped and fell on the sidewalk. As he got closer, her took out a pocket knife and grabbed her bandaged wrist with his other hand.

"What are you doing?" Kimi yelled, trying to kick him and break free. But he was proving to be too strong. He twisted her injured wrist and she seethed through her teeth in pain. "That hurt!"

"Oh, trust me, that's nothing compared to what I'm about to do to you for that face-slapping of yours," Ken said. "Let's see what's under these wrappers." Swiftly, he cut away the bandages that Kyochi had tied and wrapped together for his sister a few days ago. She screamed in pain when the blade made contact with the tiny scar that was still healing and to Kimi's horror, tiny trickles of blood was oozing from her re-opened wound.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Ken smiled wickedly as he let go of her wrist. "I always love rubies."

Kimi gasped, her heart was beating faster and faster as her eyes met the tiny river of blood. She couldn't speak. Her voice was gone and her body was shaking with fear.

"As I was saying before," the boy gloated as he stood up before her, "all of those little stunts and reactions of yours are all connected. You see…I know your secret and it's right there on your wrist…"

Kimi whimpered and tried to cover her ears so that she wouldn't hear him say what she's afraid most. But Ken just laughed at her pointless effort, knowing very well that she could hear him just fine.

"That's right. You, Kimi Watsuki, or should I say…Princess Kimberely Anne Rowena Jane Clairebourne is deathly afraid of blood. Yes! You're hemophobic! It is your one, main, weak points and I hit it dead on."

"NO! STOP!" Kimi screamed. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"And now you're going to give me what I want whether you like it or not," Ken laughed as he bent down to grab her injured wrist again.

"DUSK!" Lobo shouted. "Release your host now!"

"Lobo," Ken…or in this case, Dusk…turned around and smirked. "How nice of you to drop in. And I see that Kouji's here, too. Are you here to play hero again."

"Don't you dare touch her, you monster!" Lobo warned. He growled viciously through his teeth.

"Or what? You're going to bite me? You're no longer human thanks to that witch," Dusk laughed. "Despite your immortality and your meager animal abilities to sense my presence, you're powerless against me!"

"But I'm not!" Kouji yelled, taking a swing at the vampire-possessed Ken. Dusk staggered back from the surprise punch and sneered. Kouji bent down and saw that Kimi was still in shock. Grabbing her by the shoulder, he shook her gently. "Hey! C'mon, princess. Snap out of it. This is no time to be daydreaming."

"Blood…so much…blood…there's blood everywhere I go…" Kimi sobbed through teary eyes. Even though he hadn't known her for long, Kouji felt terrible seeing her cry. "No matter where I go today…I kept seeing…red…blood…"

"Hey, c'mon! We can't stay here!" Kouji shook her again. "Wake up! It's me! It's…my god! Kimi, your wrist…" Kouji grabbed her bloody wrist and glared at Dusk with such venoms in his eyes. "Dusk, you goddamn son of a bitch!"

"She slapped me, so I'm only returning the favor," Dusk laughed, he raised both of his hands and aimed at them. "Now it's your turn…"

"Not if I can't help it!" Lobo snarled, jumping in to bite into the vampire's flesh. But suddenly, a bolder from the ground beneath him jutted up while he was still in mid-air. It knocked into his solar plexus and Lobo gasped for breath as he hit the ground.

"Lobo!" Kouji cried. "Are you…?"

"I'm…I'm fine, Kouji," Lobo said, his body was shaking. The dog struggled to stand up on his four feet and gasped when he realized that a few ribs were broken. "But that's impossible…that was earth magic…only Lord Techro could do that…how did you…"

"Simple, I killed him," Dusk laughed as the Silver Wolf's shocked look. "Oh, don't be so surprise. You see, despite the fact that I'm no longer part of the Ten Legendary Warriors, I am still immortal just like Gali, Kaze, Aguni, and the rest of the other Warriors. Only immortals can kill another immortal."

"Techro is dead?" Lobo gasped.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" Dusk smiled. "I found him in Scotland last century. Of course, he didn't figure out it was me until it was too late. I killed him for his powers and now I can control earth."

"Damn you!" Lobo cursed. Glancing at Kouji and the still shocked Kimi, he yelled, "Grab her and get out of here!" Kouji was about to argue back when Lobo shook his head. "It's you and her that he wants, not me!"

Kouji nodded. He was about to carry Kimi when she suddenly realize that his hands are covered in her own blood. Panicked, she backed away from him. "Kimi? No, it's me!"

"NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" She yelled, pushing him back before sprinting down the path.

"I'm afraid she will not make it that far," Dusk laughed, raising up his hands. Suddenly, a tree root that had been buried deep beneath the cemented sidewalk pushed its way up. It grabbed the princess by her ankle and she fell.

"What?" Lobo yelled in surprise.

"Did I mention that I also killed Elfen and took his Wood magic when I found him in Germany? Now I can also control any forms of vegetation!" Dusk laughed. "And now let's give them a few more surprises with one of my most favorites…metal and magnetism. Courtesy of the Metal Knight, Cavaliere."

"Gali's brother?" Lobo gasped. "That's impossible! He's more powerful than Gali herself! No one has ever defeated him!"

"You think I don't know that? I cheated, of course!" Dusk admitted. Suddenly, the metal streetlights around them started to shake. "I poisoned his wine when his servant wasn't looking. It wasn't enough to kill him, but it was enough to weaken his defense." The light bulbs shattered and the lights went out. Kimi screamed as another bolder jutted from the ground and slammed into Kouji's back.

"Aah!" the boy cried out in pain.

"Master!" Lobo went pale. Luckily, the boy got up and Lobo sighed with relief. His back was sore and it hurts like hell. But no matter what, he tried to make his way toward the delusional Kimi.

"Oh no you don't!" Dusk declared, and the ground began to shake beneath them and Kouji struggled to make his way through the rumbling earth beneath his feet. He managed to make it to Kimi and grabbed for the tree root that was wrapped around her ankle.

"N-no…get away…get away from me…" Kimi sobbed.

"Will you just shut up and let me help you?" Kouji snapped, still struggling to free her ankle.

Dusk sneered and decided to turn it up even higher. The earth shook more violently, causing cars and buildings far away to sound the alarm and the lights to flicker. Soon, Kouji could hear people screaming from a distance. Then, a sickening sound reached his ears. He looked up to find the streetlights above them shaking violently. He then realized what Dusk was trying to do as the electrical wires hissed from the inside. _Shit! _Kouji swore to himself._ He's going to crush us!_

Suddenly, something caught his eyes. A pocket knife flew and landed in front of him. Kouji looked over his shoulder and saw Lobo panting from his injury. It was Ken's pocket knife that Dusk had used on Kimi.

"Use it, quick!" Lobo shouted. Kouji nodded and made a grab for the miniature weapon. Above them, the three closest streetlamps were being ripped from their bases. Trying to keep his cool, Kouji cut off the last pieces of the tiny root that was wrapped around Kimi's now sprained ankle.

"KOUJI!" Lobo shouted. The boy took one last look to see all three heavy metal streetlamps coming down. Kimi shrieked and Kouji took in one last deep breath of air, grabbed her and shoved her out of the way. They both rolled away from the pathway and down the hill and away from Dusk. The tumble through the chaos and tore a few holes through their chothes, soiled their fabrics, cut their skins and bruised their knees. Unknown to Kouji, the pocketknife fell harmlessly next to him while he was too busy checking to see if Kimi was already. The intense rolling and shock combined had already knocked her unconscious.

"Damn you!" Dusk yelled in frustration. He raised a hand again and was able to command the tree next to them to make a grab for their legs when suddenly, Löwe jumped in and scratched his face. "AH! DAMN YOU TO HELL, YOU FILTHY FLEA-BAG!"

"That's Sir Löwe to you, you monster!" Löwe responded, still clinging fiercely to Ken's face. Dusk managed to grab Löwe and threw him to the ground and crushed his tiny body with his boots. Löwe gasped and laid motionless.

"LÖWE!" Kouichi cried. "YOU!" He pointed at Ken when he realized that it was Dusk controlling his body.

Dusk smiled wickedly. "Yes, Kouichi. It's me." He was about to raise his hand and cause another rock to form and hit the older twin when he realize that he was not alone. From a distance, Dusk saw more people coming. He cursed himself for attracting too much attention to his location. "You and your little kitty may have won this round, boy," he started, "but mark my words…I'll be back. And besides…" he turned to face Kouji who was holding the unconscious Kimi in his arms. Kouji glared at him savagely as if daring him to make another move. "…I already have what I came for. And Lobo," he gazed at the beat-up dog, "tell Gali that I dumped her brother's body somewhere in the place that was once called the Roman Lake."

Dusk snapped his fingers and his borrowed body of Ken Ichijouji disappeared in black smoke.

Kouji sighed in relief and Kimi stirred as she was coming to. Remembering how much she had freaked before, Kouji quickly took off his favorite bandana and tied it around her still bleeding wrist. He was careful to wipe away the remaining blood and to make sure that the bloody side of his bandana was facing in so she wouldn't see the blood-stained side of the cloth. _Great! I had this bandana forever. Now it's ruined._

"Löwe! Löwe, are you okay?" Kouichi cried, gently picking up Löwe and cradling him carefully. "Löwe, please speak to me!"

"He's fine, Kouichi," Lobo said. His voice was raspy as he continued to gasp for breath. "He's just unconscious. A little trip to the vet and some warm milk will have him back to normal in no time."

"Lobo, your ribs…" Kouichi whispered.

"Some are broken…ow!" Lobo winced. "But don't you worry too much about me. We have a bigger problem."

"What?"

"Dusk is getting stronger than ever before," said Lobo. He did not wish to frighten the former host but he had no choice. He didn't believe that it was fair to let only Kouji know the truth. "Dusk now has the ability to control the elements of Earth, Wood, and Metal. It's not just Darkness and Shadows anymore."

"But…but how?" Kouichi asked.

"Later," Lobo said. "Now I think you should pay more attention to your brother and I can't talk since your friends are coming."

Kouichi nodded as he and Lobo made their way towards his twin and the Lusterian princess. Kouichi carefully wrapped Löwe in his shirt as he climbed down the hill.

"K-Kouji?" Kimi's voice stirred as she opened her eyes.

"Hey, princess," Kouji smirked. "Did you sleep well?"

"What?" Kimi blinked in confusion. "What happened? And where—ow!" She stared down at her injured wrist. "My wrist…what happened here?"

"You mean you don't remember?" Kouji asked. Kimi shook her head. Kouji realized that this was a case of a repressed memory. Perhaps the event was too shocking and painful for her that her mind simply shoved it away, causing her to have temporary memory lost of the current event.

"I remembered that I was running and I saw that Ichijouji boy and…nothing," Kimi confessed. She looked down at herself and saw how filthy she was. Her skirt and her leggings were torn, her ankle was sprained, her wrist was stinging, and her hair was a mess. But then again, Kouji wasn't much better himself. "What happened?"

"There…was an earthquake. A small one actually," Kouji said. Technically he wasn't lying considering what Dusk had done.

Kimi heard electricity crackle and looked up to find three fallen streetlamps up above her on top of the hill where a pathway was marked. "Can a small earthquake uproot three of those?"

"You'd be surprised, princess," Kouji shook his head with a smirk. "You were almost crushed and electrocuted and—" _Oh, crap! I said too much!_ Kouji realized.

"Wait! You…saved me?" Kimi stared at him in shock.

But before Kouji could answer, two pairs of strong arms suddenly grabbed Kouji and pushed him away from her. Kouji tried to turn around and attack whoever had tried to assaulted him, but to his surprise, he came face to face with Kimi's two bodyguards. They were still dressed in their tourists outfit and despite them wearing sunglasses, they were both pissed. Struggling as he might, the two Lusterian men startled to tackle Kouji to the ground. Kouji tried to fight it off but they were proving to be too big and heavy for him. To make it even worse, Takuya's voice rang out when he and other others finally caught up to Kouichi.

"I knew it!" Takuya pointed. "Those guys aren't tourists at all! Hey! What are you doing to my friend?"

"ARGH! Get off me!" Kouji yelled. "Let me go!"

Unfortunately for him, the two fake tourists shook their head. One of them pulled Kouji to his feet and twisted his arms behind his back. Kouji yelled in pain and Kouichi gasped.

"Kouji!"

"I said let go, you jerks!" Kouji shouted. He was really pissed now. "I demand to know what this is all about?"

"Yeah, what's going on here?" Takuya and Junpei snapped in unison.

"By order of the Duke of Lusteria, you are under arrest for attempting to sexually assaulting his daughter, Princess Kimberly!" said first bodyguard.

"WHAT?" Kouji stammered. "That's crazy! I didn't do anything to her!"

The second body guard bent down to pick up the pocket knife at Kouji's feet with a cloth. Then he glanced at Kimi's injured wrist. Shaking his head, he said, "It's worst than we thought, George." He held up the bloody knife to his partner.

"What is it, Josh?" said the bodyguard name George.

"I'm afraid that this is also an attempt murder on the princess."

"WHAT?" Takuya and the others cried.

Josh nodded to George and said, "Take him in."

"Let me go! Or so help me I'm gonna—" Kouji cried furiously. Kicking and screaming at George who was still holding him tightly by the arms. But suddenly he stopped when his eyes came face to face to a shiny object. The others gasped because the man named Josh had pulled out a gun and aimed it at Kouji's forehead.

"We can either do this the easy way," he loaded the gun and clicked it against Kouji's forhead, "or we can do this the hard way. So which is it going to be, punk?"

Kouji gulped nervously at the thought of the loaded gun barrel being placed so close to his brain. The others held their breath in fear and anxiety. They watched in stunned silence at the gun. They all struggled to say something…anything! To defend Kouji, convince the man to put his gun down, or to comment their thoughts on the sudden turn of the situation. But no one said anything.

It was then that Takuya and Takashi both managed to say the same thing that was on everyone's mind in unison, "Oh…shit…"

**Author's notes: And I'll let it stop here for now because this chapter is long enough already. This chapter was actually planned a few months ago and how it all turned out was a lot better than I had thought. Yes, Kimi's biggest weakness is the fact that she's afraid of blood, also known as hemophobia. So every time she hears or sees something that deals with blood like vampires or a murder scene, she freaks out.**

**I just love doing crossovers. For this chapter, we not only get Ken ichijouji again from Digimon Zero Two, but also from Digimon Xros Wars with Taiki Kudo and Case Closed (aka Detective Conan) with high school detective Shinichi Kudo and Inspector Megure. For those of you who don't know, here's a fun fact. Kouji was right about Shinichi. In the first manga volume of Detective Conan, Shinichi Kudo was sticking his nose into a dangerous business when he was suddenly knocked unconscious. To keep him silent about their drug and weapon transaction, The Black Organization forced Kudo to take a poisonous pill which was supposed to kill him. Instead, it shrunk his body from age 17 to age 7. In order to cure himself and protect those he loved, the now young and shrunken Shinichi Kudo disguised himself as an elementary school detective kid named Conan Edogawa. In the anime version of this series, the voice actress (Minami Takayama) who voiced Conan (aka the young Shinichi Kudo) is the same voice actress of Taiki Kudo in Digimon Xros Wars. Pretty cool how both of her characters names have the same last name: KUDO!**

**Also, **_**The Last Windmaster**_** is a parody of the film **_**The Last Airbender **_**and **_**Nightfall **_**is a parody of the vampire film **_**Twilight**_**. And by the way, I've seen both movies and they're both horrible to me as hell. I've been wanting to make fun of them both in this fanfiction for a while now and it's pretty appropriate because this fanfiction deals with a vampire and it deals with the elements.**

**Another thing to note that the Digimon in this fanfiction are all gijinkas, both canon and OCs. Dusk is the gijinka of Duskmon, Kaze is Kazemon, Aguni is Agunimon and so on and so forth. Gali is the gijinka of Galimon, my OC version of the true Warrior of Water. The same thing for the other three warriors. Techro is the gijinka version of Techromon, my OC version of the true Warrior of Earth; Elfenmon is Elfen, my OC of the true Warrior of Wood; and Cavalieremon is Caveliere, my OC of the true Warrior of Metal.**


	27. The Princess Revealed

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter 26: The Princess Revealed**

"We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way," said one of Kimi's bodyguards designated as Josh, pressing his gun against Kouji's forehead. "So which is it going to be, punk?"

Kouji didn't answer the man because his attention was solely focused on the pistol's barrel as it pressed coldly between his eyes. _These guys aren't kidding themselves, _Kouji thought. _They _can_ kill me!_

Needless to say, Kouji was too surprise to speak as he could feel his face sweating. Out of all of his friends, Kouji had always been the one who can keep his cool the most in the worst of times. Sometimes, he pride himself in being able to control his fear when Takuya lost his cool more than once. But this time, things were looking so screwed-up and terribly wrong at that moment that he could feel his heart racing. It was official; Kouji was getting really nervous right now. The second bodyguard, named George, was holding him by his arm and he was smirking with satisfaction at Kouji's cooperation. He nodded to his partner and Josh continued to point the gun at the boy's head. With his other hand, the man pulled out a cell-phone and speed dialed whoever it is on the other end and began to speak in English.

"Confirmed! We got a hostile here! Her Highness is alive but she's hurt. We have the murder weapon as proof. Bring the car here and inform the Duke!"

"Affirmative!" said the chauffeur before switching back to Japanese. "Unfortunately, I have to wait out this traffic, but I'll be there as soon as I can."

"You hear that, kid?" said Josh, smirking at Kouji. "When the Duke hears about this, you're going to be in a lot of trouble." Kouji glared daggers at him.

"C'mon, you guys!" Takashi cried, waving his arms at the two men to get their attention. Unfortunately, they didn't bother to look his way. "Let's just all _chill_! Okay, I know Kouji can be a _jerk_ sometimes…and I haven't known him for that long…but you guys are really going overboard with this drama! So just put the gun down and we' can talk this through, can we?"

"Apologies, Master Takashi," said the bodyguard named Josh. "But we cannot take orders from you today. The Duke specifically said to arrest _anyone—_" he said, stressing the word as he continued to point his gun at Kouji. The boy only returned the compliment by eying the man venomously but Josh ignored it, "—who displayed any form of malicious threat on his daughter."

"I didn't do anything to her!" Kouji snapped. His foot tried to swing a kick at the man in front of him.

"Kouji, please!" Kouichi pleaded. He was still cradling the unconscious cat in his arms. The desperation in his eyes made the entire image seems more depression and a bit pathetically sad. It caused his brother to stop immediately. "Please stop! Don't make this worse as it is."

"A wise thing to say," Josh shook his head and held up the pocket knife with a cloth. "This weapon was found next to you when you were with Her Grace."

"That's not mine!" Kouji snapped. "It's a mistake!"

"From what we can see, there are still some blood stains on it as well as fingerprints on the handle," said Josh. "Since our princess is the only one who's hurt and this was found next to you…"

"I'm telling you, it's not mine!" Kouji spat.

"We can send this to the lab," said George, ignoring the boy. "If that's her blood on the blade and your fingerprints on the handle, that's enough proof as it is."

Kouji was speechless. What else could he say to defend himself? He couldn't just tell them that it was the boy genius Ken Ichijouji who was possessed by an evil vampire that was the real culprit…could he? No matter how true it was, it still sounded like the most pathetic excuses in the world. Kouji's face darkened and he looked down at his shoes in defeat. Both Josh and George smirked with satisfaction.

_Great, just great! _Kouji thought to himself miserably. _Now I'm going to be tried for attacking Kimi and her daddy is going to kill me...as soon as Kyochi is finish vivisecting my body for his master thesis! _He glanced at his brother who couldn't do anything as he cradled his unconscious cat in his jacket. As for Lobo, he was desperate to bite into the two men's leg in order to protect his boy at all cost. But the searing pain of his broken ribs were preventing him from doing so, all cutesy from Dusk.

"George! Josh!" said a voice furiously in English. Everyone turned to see Kimi and it was clear that she was furious. Although her vision was still spinning a bit, Kimi managed to hear just about enough to figure out what was going on. Izumi was supporting her at her side as they both came closer. The next thing she did was shoved the Italian girl away and switching to Japanese. "What is the meaning of this? Unhand him at once!"

George and Josh were stunned. What was going on? Why would their princess defend her murderer? Kimi's fury intensified when she saw that they had failed to listen. "Didn't you hear me? Josh, put that gun down immediately! I have had enough of your happy-trigger attitude!"

"But Your High—" Josh started, pointing the gun away.

"I told you to call me Kimi in public!" Kimi snapped furiously.

"But Miss Kimi," he corrected himself. "Why would you want this…this…_vermin_ free? He tried to kill you!"

"Oh really?" Kimi said. "Did you see him trying to kill me?"

"No, but he was on top of you and—"

"Dude! Too much description! I didn't need to hear that detail, buddy!" Takuya cried. The other boys jus blushed and shook their heads in embarrassment.

Kouji, on the other hand, hung his head and felt the blood rising to his cheeks. _If my hands weren't bound, I'd kill this guy!_ To make matters worse, he had to listen to another one of Takashi's bad-mouthed freak out outbursts.

"Yeah, seriously! Takuya's right, I don't think any one of us needed to hear that! Wait a minute!" Takashi pointed an accusing finger at Kouji, "You bastard! You actually _touched_ her? You rotten son of a—"

Takashi didn't get to finish his outburst, because the next thing he knew, Kimi slapped the man viciously in the face. Although young as she was, the attack was so quick and sudden that Josh stumbled back and fell flat on the grass.

Takuya whistled, causing Izumi to give him a quick glare but he took no notice. "Man, that has gotta _sting_!"

Sure enough, the goggle-head leader was right. Kimi continued to glare at her bodyguard coldly for describing the previous scene with such poorly choices of words as he got up quickly and with a bit of dignity. On his cheek, there was a visible red hand mark and although it wasn't lethal, it sure left a little burning sensation.

"As I was saying," Josh cleared his throat impatiently, "we saw him grabbing you and your wrist was bleeding."

"We also found this knife next to him, milady," George added, gazing at the knife in Josh's covered hand. "I believe the evidence speaks for itself."

Josh held up the knife for the princess to see, but she immediately slapped it out of his hand furiously. "No, get it away from me! And for your information, **I** speak for the case itself," Kimi snapped. "If you must know, the both of you are mistaken!"

"Yeah! What she said!" Takashi added. Kimi shot him a shut-up-and-stay-out-of-this look. He immediately looked away sheepishly before she returned her attention back on her two bodyguards.

"Kouji did not try to _kill_ me, he _saved_ me!"

The two bodyguards exchanged looks of disbelief as they try to interpret this fact. "But milady," said Josh. "The knife…your…soiled appearance (he was going to say filthy but decided against it) and…" He didn't get to finish because Kimi held up a hand to silence him. Then she crossed her arms.

"We both got this way because there was an earthquake," she snapped.

"Come to think of it, there was a bit of a rumble a while ago," Junpei added reasonably.

"Yeah, and it even affected the city's electricity for a bit!" said Takashi.

"Takashi, you're right!" said Masaki.

"I am?" Takashi asked.

"Look, up there!" said Masaki, pointing up the hill to where the pathway is. There stood two bases where the two streetlamps used to be. The electrical wires on the inside were still crackling. Sparks were flying everywhere nearby and the two metal street lamps lay fallen on the pathway itself. "The earthquake must have knocked those down."

"Wait a minute!" Takuya said. "Just what the hell is going on?"

"That's exactly what I would like to know as well."

To everyone's surprise, a new voice spoke from behind Kouichi. Startled, Kouichi turned around to face Kyochi Watsuki. And from the look on his face, he was not happy. As a matter of fact, he looked furious.

"Ooh…" Takashi winced. He shot a look of pity at the two men and said, "You guys are in for it now because I know a pissed Kyochi when I see one."

"Nii-san…" Kimi whispered under her breath.

"Kyochi-sensei," said Kouichi, still cradling Löwe in his shirt. "What…? Why are you here?"

Kyochi's face remained furious, as well was his tone of voice. But his anger was not directed at Kouichi. "I was done helping my mother checking up on her patients for the day, including Ami-chan," he glanced at Izumi who nodded, "when the building started to shake from a sudden earthquake. After the emergency power kicked in, I had to help the panic die down with the other medical students. When I looked out the window, I find you all here." Kyochi crossed his arms.

"Wait, how can you see us from the hospital?" Junpei asked.

"The south building where Kyochi and Watsuki-sensei work faces this side of the park, guys," Masaki whispered. Junpei nodded.

Kyochi came closer to his sister and grabbed her injured wrist gently. She winced but did not cry as her brother examined the bandaged work. _Crude work, but firm enough, _Kyochi thought. He noticed that the bandana that was used as a bandage belonged to Kouji. The young medical student gazed at Kouji. The poor boy was still being held in place by George and he was showing signs of annoyance from his predicament. Kyochi scowled at the scene before him.

"Master Kyochi," Josh bowed, his face now flustered with anxiety. "Please, we're just…we were just apprehending the suspect for harassing your sister."

"Save it," Kyochi said darkly. "I've seen enough to know that you two have _failed_." He held up his sister's wrist. "You _failed_ to protect my sister! And now you're _apprehending_ Kouji-kun! What on earth were you two thinking?"

"But Master Kyochi," Josh defended, "This boy tried to hurt Miss Kimi. We were merely doing our job!"

"Hurt her, you say? Funny, although I couldn't make out as clearly from far away, I saw enough to know that Kouji was the one who saved her," Kyochi replied calmly in a such a tone that it seemed frightening. He turned to Kouichi and asked him, "Kouichi-kun, what really happened? I could have sworn that my sister and your brother were about to be crushed by those two street lamps. Is that true, or was I hallucinating?"

Kouichi glanced at Lobo who was whimpering next to his legs from his broken ribs. He couldn't raise his head to face Kyochi but he also knew that he couldn't stay silent forever. His brother's fate was at stake! But then again, from what Kyochi had said it seems that the medical student have seen Dusk from his window. But the question was did he really? And if not, then how can Kouichi tell the truth without endangering his friends as well? Löwe stirred in his arms and gave a small meow of pain. Looking down to see how much his friend was suffering, Kouichi knew that he had to get both of them treated quickly. And the only way to do that was to get this thing over with.

Heaving a big sigh, Kouichi returned Kyochi's glance with confidence. "No, Kyochi-sensei. You weren't hallucinating. I saw what happened."

"Then you saw firsthand what really happened, is that right?" Kyochi's eyebrow arched up. "Would you care to tell us?"

Kouichi nodded. "There was an earthquake and everything was happening so fast. None of us could stand upright and Kimi-san got her foot and her wrist tangled in those vegetations up there. The earthquake was bringing down those two streetlamps and she couldn't escape. Kouji was only trying to free her by cutting her free."

Kyochi's expression remained unchanged. He turned to his sister and asked her sternly, "Kimi. Was it true? I did saw a little bit of you from the hospital."

"Then shouldn't you know?" Kimi scowled.

Kyochi shook his head. "No, the hospital was still too far away for me to see clearly."

Kimi looked up at where the two fallen street lamps are, its wires still crackling and hissing with sparks and electricity. She nodded, "I hate to admit it, but Kouji saved me. My wrist and my ankle are most likely bruised so I assumed Kouichi there was speaking the truth. Kouji probably tried to cut me loose and if it weren't for him, the both of us would have been hauled to your hospital."

Satisfied, her brother nodded.

"What do you have to say for yourselves?" Kyochi glared back at the two bodyguards. They winced as he and his sister glared at them with disgust. To make it worse, Takuya and the others joined in, leaving them both feeling like the worst bodyguards ever.

Kimi walked up to the two and them and repeated herself slowly in a dangerous tone. "Unhand. Him. At. Once."

"But, milady—" George started.

"DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME?" She snapped. "I told you two that Kouji didn't hurt me? He saved me and this is the thanks you gave him? I don't need you two. At least Kouji's did your jobs better than you ever could!"

"But—"

"I SAID RELEASE HIM!"

Both men sighed and nodded in defeat. Josh gave George the order and he loosened his grip on the boy's arms. Kouji immediately backed away and shot them both a venomous glare.

"Kouji!" Takuya cried as he came close to his friend's side. "Hey, you okay there, buddy?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Takuya," Kouji replied and rubbed his sore arms. "Rotten bastards."

"Yeah, you said it," Takuya grinned, giving a light punch to Kouji's shoulder. Unfortunately, Kouji yelped in pain because Takuya had unintentionally hit him at the place where he landed against the tree earlier. "Takuya!"

"Sorry, buddy!" Takuya cried, holding up his hands in defiance. "I didn't mean to."

"I should punish the two of you severely for this," Kimi placed both of her hands on her hips as she looked at them in disgust. "The two of you ruined everything since the cinema. I told you not to get involve unless I actually call for help!"

George and Josh nodded in humiliation. Hesitantly, George asked the princess in a nervous tone, "Are you going to fire us, milady?"

Kimi sighed and shook her head. "No, that would be too easy."

"Then we will gladly explain to your father ourselves of our poor actions once we've escorted you back to the manor."

"I'm not going back," Kimi said. Kyochi and the two men looked at her in shock.

"Pardon me, milady, but it seems like you're—"

"I said I'm not going back," Kimi repeated. "You two are going to have to go home without me and I mean it! I am staying with Kyochi."

"But Lord James! He'll—" Josh cried.

"He will have to deal with it, is that clear?" Kimi said. "I am sick of him holding me back behind those gates and it's his fault that the two of you are in this mess in the first place."

The two Lusterian men were about to press further, but Kyochi stopped them and said, "She will be safe with me. You may leave. Lord James will be notified and the Head of Security of Clairebourne Manor will receive a formal written letter of complaint from me personally."

"Yes, Master Kyochi," the two men bowed.

"Now leave us," Kimi ordered. They were about to leave when she cleared her throat. "Aren't you two forgetting something?" she asked. Both George and Josh seemed confused at first. Rolling her eyes, Kimi pointed to Kouji and Kouichi.

And here, Josh and George quickly bowed in humiliation to them. "We apologized for accusing you under false pretenses, young masters," said George.

"Please forgive us for the way we have treated you. If you still have any doubts, we are in your debt for protecting our princess in times when we should have," said the other.

Kouichi nodded and made a quick bow. Kouji, on the other hand, scoffed at him which caused his brother to nudge him on the side. "Ow! Okay, okay!" he said. "Fine, whatever. Just don't do it again."

After the men left, there was an awkward moment of silent among the ten teenagers and the Guardian Knights. In the distance, the city lights were slowing coming on one by one as the city's electricity was restored. Wanting to break the silence, Takashi spoke up.

"Well," he breathed, "that went well, right?"

"Are you kidding?" Tomoki answered. "That was scary! I really thought Kouji was going to be hauled off by those guys!"

"Who were they anyway exactly?" Junpei asked cautiously.

"Not tourists, that's for sure!" Takuya answered.

"No, they're bodyguards," Masaki answered. "Josh and George were among those that were hired to work for Kimi's father."

"They've been following us all day since this morning, haven't they?" Izumi asked. Masaki nodded. Turning to face Takuya, she smiled apologetically. "Takuya, you were right. Well…sort of. But you were right that those men weren't as we thought they were at the theatre today. But I don't understand," she turned to Takashi and Masaki. "You two knew about them?"

Both boys shrugged. "Not exactly. We didn't know about them until Takuya made a fool out of himself at the movies."

"One of them called you _Master_," Izumi noticed. Takashi shrugged. "Why?"

"Yeah, well you already know that my mom's a famous fashion designer and Masaki's dad the CEO of one of the largest security and computer companies in the world," Takashi implied. "So…um…yeah…"

"You two are also from a wealthy family background, too, huh?" Junpei pointed out. He smirked, "Looks like Kyochi's not the only _rich bastard_ here, huh? OW!" Junpei winced and rubbed the back of his head fiercely as a tiny little pebble rolled next to his feet. "What the?" He glared at Takuya who then pointed his fingers at Kimi. She continued to have her back turned on them and sulked.

"She did it!" Takuya said.

"Kimi, you didn't have to do that," Kyochi said quietly.

"Hmph," was her only reply.

"I still don't get it," Izumi pressed. "If the four of you have a high class heritage of your own, then why is Kimi the only one who had her own bodyguards today?"

"Actually, she's the only one who comes from a high class society," Masaki corrected her. "The three of us," he gestured to indicate himself, Takashi, and Kyochi, "are wealthy because of our parents' works."

"But your families are stinkin' rich!" Takuya pointed out. "Surely your moms and dads can hire big thugs like those guys to protect you!"

"Um…true…but we don't have any reason for doing so," Masaki answered, his tone sounding a bit cautious.

Takashi nodded. "Yeah, we're…um…we're not important enough like Kimi and—"

Masaki realized what Takashi was going to say and quickly stepped on his friend's feet.

"OW! Crap, what the hell was that for, Masaki?" Takashi snapped.

"Wait a minute," Junpei interrupted. Now he and his three friends were suspicious. "What do you mean you three aren't _important_ enough? Why is Kimi more important than all three of you? Shouldn't Kyochi be around her level, too? And why is she more high class than him and you two?"

"Um…" Takashi stuttered but it was too late. He realized what was going to happen next and Kimi is going to hate him for it. "Um…well…you see…um…"

"Now you've done it this time, Takashi-kun!" Masaki shot his friend a cold glare.

"What? What are you two hiding?" Tomoki pressed. "C'mon, Masaki-kun! Tell us!"

"Yeah, what makes Kimi there so special anyway?" Takuya demanded.

"Because she's a princess, isn't she?" Izumi realized. Both of them winced and quickly stared at their shoes. "I'm right, am I? Of course! The pieces all fit together perfectly! How could we be so stupid?"

"Wait! What?" Takuya interrupted, his heads now getting confused. "Izumi, what are you talking about? Kimi's not a princess! She doesn't look like one. And besides, we met her family already. They're not royalties either. They're just doctors!"

Izumi sighed and shook her head in frustration. "Takuya don't you see?" she insisted. "The clues have been in front of us this entire time. Don't you remember what Kaze-sama said? We have to pay attention to the things around us!"

"What clues? What are you talking about?" Takuya asked, getting frustrated himself.

"Takuya, don't you remember?" Izumi pulled out her fingers and started to count them off. "We didn't get a chance to meet Kyochi's mysterious sister until this morning. The other day, Takashi and Masaki told us that Kimi and her family had just moved here a few years ago. And guess what? So did the Clairebourne noble family from Lusteria! Plus, Kouji told us that his family was invited to a dinner at Clairebourne Manor and they went yesterday!"

"And when Kouji and Kouichi finally showed up, this chick came out of nowhere and acted as if she had enough time to get to know them! But that's impossible since it takes a while to get from here to the edge of the city and all the way to the Clairebourne's estate!" Junpei added.

"Right! And since Kyochi was busy at the hospital here, there was not enough time for him to introduce his sister to the twins unless he was already there at the estate himself!" Izumi added. "And my guess is correct, Kimi and is the mysterious Lusterian princess from Clairebourne Manor!"

"But that's crazy and you know it!" Takuya insisted.

Izumi sighed seeing as she's still unable to convince him. Turning to Junpei, she asked, "Junpei-kun, does your history text book mentions the name of the Lusterian princess that we're talking about?"

"Yeah," Junpei replied.

"Do you remember it?"

"Well, not her entire name since it's too long, but I do remember her first name," Junpei replied sheepishly.

"What's the name, Junpei?" Tomoki asked eagerly.

"Kimberly," Masaki spoke up. Knowing that there was no point in hiding the truth anymore, he decided to get this over with anyway. "Her name is Princess Kimberly."

"You see, Takuya?" Izumi pointed out. "They both have similar names! Kimi _is_ Princess Kimberly! Heck, even those two bodyguards called her by titles such as 'milady' and stuff!"

"You're kidding right?" Takuya insisted stubbornly. "Kimi couldn't be a princess—_Ouch!_"

Infuriated with his friend's insistence on being so thick-headed, Kouji kicked him in the shin.

"What was that for, Kouji?" Takuya snapped.

"For being a stupid goggle-head!" Kouji replied. Ignoring their banter, Kyochi gently guided his sister closer to the rest of the group but she continued to sulk with her arms crossed. A small gust of wind blew and she shivered slightly. Seeing this, Kyochi took off his doctor's coat and wrapped it around her. Shaking his head, Kouji said, "Seriously, could you be any more dense?"

"Okay, okay, I get your point," Takuya said, rubbing his sore shin with his other foot. "But seriously, is Kimi a princess? And you guys knew?" He pointed at Kouji and Kouichi. The older twin brother nodded as he stroked the unconscious Löwe gently. "WHAT THE HELL? Why the heck wasn't I informed about this earlier?"

"Because you didn't ask, goggle-head," Kouji answered.

"Well, how was I supposed to know so that I could ask in the first place?" Takuya argued. Junpei, Tomoki, and Izumi suddenly palmed their foreheads in unison. "Oh, come on!" he pouted. "Okay, so what if there were clues in the first place, but it's not like I'm the only one who wasn't able to see them. But come to think of it, I did kinda notice the weird things about those two guys before, but c'mon! You guys couldn't piece them together earlier, too! Izumi, you said so yourself!"

"Does he always do that?" Kimi asked.

Kouji glanced at her. "You mean spouting nonstop like that just so that we can get his point? Yeah, pretty much."

"Hey! I heard that, Kouji!" Takuya said. "Stop telling your _girlfriend_ bad stuff about me?"

"She's not my—" Kouji began to retort but Takuya just continued.

"But seriously, Kouji! You and your brother knew this entire time, but why didn't you tell us the truth? Why keep her identity a secret?"

Kouji was about to give him another one of his snide remarks but Kimi beat him to it as she said, "Because there was no reason why you and your friends should!"

Takuya gapped at her in surprise, his mouth hanging open like a fish. Shaking her head, Izumi stepped forward to face her with a worried look on her face.

"But why? Is it because you didn't trust us?" she asked.

Kimi wanted to say yes but her brother stopped her. "No, it's not the fact that we didn't trust you, Izumi-chan," said Kyochi, a bit embarrassed. He had not spoken to her properly since they ran into each other again at the hospital. Aside from the phone call he gave her for an update on Ami's condition, the boy was simply too busy to talk to her or her three friends properly. Now he felt that he should explain why the six out of ten of them had to keep his twin's royal identity a secret.

"It was for protection," he said, although the reason sounded a bit lame on his tongue. "You must understand, there are many people out there in the world who would take advantage of people like my sister if they knew the truth about her identity. Whether it's for wealth or fame, people will do what they think is necessary to get what they want!"

"Plus, we're in the twenty-first century already," Masaki added. "We're in an age where technology is advancing, and if words break out, every press company will chase after our friend quicker than you can outrun a cheetah!"

"You're still saying that you don't trust us!" Izumi pointed out.

"Yeah, because it's true!" Kimi said.

"Kimi!" Kyochi scolded.

"It is!" Kimi argued. Glaring at Izumi and the others, she accused them with a cold, piercing glance. "You and your friends are no different than those people out there right now in the world. As soon as you find out the truth, you'll just try to grab at the opportunities it holds for your own personal benefit!"

"That's not true!" Izumi cried. Now she was insulted. Izumi had been accused of many things by her fellow classmates ever since she and her family came back from Italy. Because she doesn't fit in like the rest of them and because of her foreign heritage, her classmates looked down on her and treated her like an outsider. But despite their cruel words, Izumi continued to try and be herself and ever since she met Takuya and the others, they had taught her that she was right. She had proven herself in front of those who had humiliated her enough for others to respect and accepts her for who she is. Because of that, Izumi was able to make friends with the other girls like Chiaki and Ami! It was one thing to be accused of being different and an outsider, but another when it comes to be indicted of being like everyone else in the world.

Furiously, Izumi matched Kimi's cold glares. "For your information, my friends and I don't care if you and your friends are from a wealthy family. We didn't treat your brother any less different than what he was when we met him!"

Kimi scoffed and replied in Italian, "Liar! _Sei una ragazza molto ipocrita!_"

"I'm a hypocrite?" Izumi yelled.

"Yes! Do you think that I haven't notice?" Kimi said angrily. "I heard what you said to your friends when you dragged me into those shops this morning. Every time one of them made a comment about what I'm wearing, you beamed and proudly claim that you know me personally! And that girl you call Chiaki, even dared to ask you if you could introduce me to her as a new friend!"

Izumi gapped while Takuya and the others gave her an unbelievable look.

"What's the matter? Can't handle the truth?" Kimi continued.

"But I…" Izumi stuttered, trying to defend herself.

"And if I recalled correctly, you also jumped at the chance when you found out who Takashi's mother is," Kimi pointed out.

"Come to think of it, she did act as if she's been dying to have my mom's latest designs," Takashi said, earning him a kick from Masaki. "What?"

"You're not helping you know!" Masaki hissed.

"Hey, cut it out," said Takuya. "Look, you're right. Izumi's a snob and a show-off sometimes—"

"Takuya!" Izumi protested.

"Well, it's true!" Takuya said. "But the point is that she doesn't mean any harm. I'm sure that her intentions were pure but that doesn't prove that she's always like that. None of us are."

"Hmph," Kimi scoffed. "Says the boy who freaked out not ten minutes ago."

Takuya looked at her in surprise. "But I was just…um…that was just…"

"You reacted differently once you knew who I am," Kimi repeated. She shook her head and sighed. "If you really think that you're right, then let me ask you this: What would you have done and said if you knew ahead of time of who I am this morning? Would you still have treated me like you did when you didn't know the truth?"

Takuya and his three friends turned silent. They gave each other gazes that were filled with guilt. She was right. If they had known who she was this morning before they started their day, they would probably have treated her a bit differently.

"I didn't think so," Kimi commented, her blue eyes cold and piercing. "You know, my brother spoke highly of you and I actually thought that the four of you were going to be like Takashi and Masaki. At least they're honest enough. I was willing to listen to my brother and give you guys a chance to prove yourself that you're not like everyone else. But I guess I was wrong."

"Kimi, please," Kyochi begged gently. "Give them another chance. I know that they're a good influence."

"Just take me home, Nii-san," Kimi said quietly, not looking at him. "I don't belong here."

Sighing in defeat, Kyochi nodded and turned to face the others. "I'm sorry. This is my fault. Thank you for showing her around today. Good evening."

"Wait!" Takuya cried. "You're not just going to walk away like that, are you?"

"Yeah! This is all just a misunderstand! That's all!" Izumi added.

Kyochi shook his head sadly and slowly guided his sister home to his house. To everyone's surprise, Kouji ran after them and grabbed Kimi's arm. "You honestly believe that, princess?" he asked her sternly. "Are we all really like that to you?"

Kimi held his gazes and shook his head. "I have nothing against you nor your twin. I can't deal with any of this anymore."

"You're lying," Kouji seethed through his teeth. "You probably don't know it, but I think that deep down, you still believe in them!"

"Kouji…" Kimi whispered. Then angrily shook him off of her arm and glared. "I may not know how or exactly what happened, but at least I know that you saved me back there. You have my gratitude."

"C'mon, princess! Don't—" Kouji started but she cut him off.

"I'm sorry about the way those men mistreated you," Kimi said. "I'm really sorry, but you know I never wanted them to come along. If I had been more persistent, I wouldn't have ruined your day," Before she turned away from him, she leaned in close to his ears and whispered, "Thank you for not treating me like a princess since we've met."

"Yeah," Kouji nodded sadly. "You're welcome."

"Kimi, let's go home," Kyochi said. Kimi nodded and was about to leave when Kouji called back, "Hey! This isn't over! I'll be back for my bandana, you know!"

Kimi quietly laughed to herself. Unfortunately, Kyochi noticed the shifting of her mood. "What's so funny, sis?"

"Nothing," Kimi said sadly. "It's just that when I opened my eyes to see that Kouji boy after that earthquake, I thought I felt something familiar."

"Familiar?" Kyochi blinked.

"Yes," she replied. "A feeling that I felt a long time ago, but I can't remember exactly what."

And with that, both sibling departed for home. Unknown to them, Ken was watching them from the shadows of Tokyo Tower, his vision still sharp and clear like an eagle, watching its preys.

"Interesting," he said to himself, a grin spreading across his face as Dusk laughed inwardly inside his new host. "Interesting indeed..."

* * *

"We have to go after her!" said Izumi.

"Why?" Tomoki questioned. "After what she said about us?"

"Yeah, Izumi-chan!" Junpei added. "I don't mean to be a downer but she did call you a hypocrite or something like that."

After their spat, the franternal twins left the park for home, leaving the six kids to discuss the uncomfortable situation while Takashi and Masaki moped from a distance. Their hearts were feeling so dragged down and guilty that being around Takuya and his friend would make them feel even worse.

"But she was right!" Izumi realized. "Don't you see? I did brag and show-off to Chiaki and the others when we were in the shops! And I did jump at the chance when given when I found out that Takashi-kun's mom is my favorite fashion designer!"

"C'mon, Izumi-chan," said Junpei. He had hoped to calm her down and restore her self-esteem, but so far it wasn't working. "I don't blame you. Anyone could have done those things and not have known about it."

"Don't you see?" Izumi insisted. "Kimi was hoping that we would treat her as a real friend! Look at Takashi and Masaki? Sure, Takashi's a flirt, but at least he was honest with her and he doesn't seem to care if she was a princess or not. Don't you remember the way you reacted, Takuya?"

"Don't remind me," said Takuya.

"Look, my point is that the four of us at least have failed," said Izumi. "Kyochi's her brother and he thought that we would make great friends for her, but we failed. We owe a lot to him, you know! After all, Kyochi-kun's the one who's helped Kouichi and his mom. And may I remind you that if it weren't for him, Ami-chan would probably be dead like those other victims on TV?"

"Well, you do got a point there," Tomoki said.

"We owe Kyochi-kun big and he had counted on all of us to welcome Kimi into our group and treated her like a part of the family, not like some foreign royalty who's too good to join us!"

Takuya nodded and said, "Fine, you made your point. But what are we supposed to do now? Her Royal Highness doesn't want to hang out with us anymore. In fact, I think she even _hates_ us now!"

"Simple! We go to her house and convince her that we really want to be her friend!" Izumi beamed proudly at her own idea. "We'll show her how much we really want her in our group and that we don't care much about her heritage and her background. That includes Kyochi as well as Masaki and Takashi, too!"

"Yeah, why should we treat people different just because they're richer than us!" Takuya said, punching the air.

Izumi shook her head in embarrassment. "You really have a way with words, huh, Takuya?"

"What?" he asked. "It's true! And besides, with them in our group, we'll have a perfect number of ten!"

"I don't mind," Tomoki smiled. "Besides, I like hanging out with Masaki. It feels good to have someone around your age to talk to, especially someone who's good with computers and games, too!"

"Yeah, and that Kimi sure does have some spunk," Junpei laughed. "Remember the prank she played on Takashi this morning? That was so cool! Kinda mean, but cool!"

"Yeah, and today's trip have been a lot more exciting with her around!" Takuya added. Tomoki nodded in agreement. "Plus, I think she's smoking hot!" he added. Izumi glared jealously at him. He quickly said, "Oh, c'mon! We all know that you're much _cuter_ than her!" Izumi smiled.

"So it's decided then?" Izumi asked, clasping her hands together. "We'll ask Takashi and Masaki where Kyochi lives and we'll go there tomorrow and tell them how we want them in our group, right?"

"You bet!" Takuya grinned, giving her a big smile and a thumbs-up.

Izumi giggled. "All in favor say 'Aye'!"

"AYE! AYE!"

"Count us out," said a voice.

"Kouji!" Takuya glared. "What's with you? Don't you want your girlfriend back?" Then with a teasing tone, "C'mon, buddy! I know you like her!"

"Why, Kouji?" Izumi asked. "Don't you want her and her friends in our group, too?"

"It's not that," Kouji said in frustration. "It's just…"

He turned to his brother who nodded. "We have to go. Lobo and Löwe got hurt from the earthquake!" He held up his cat. Löwe remained unconscious, but he was still moaning slightly in pain. At Kouji's side, Lobo was whimpering like a real dog from his broken rib.

Izumi gasped and clasped her mouth. "Oh, you guys! Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

"How could we? I was busy being manhandled by those bastards," Kouji pointed out, his voice low.

"Well, why didn't you ask Kyochi earlier?" Junpei asked.

"Kyochi-sensei's a medical student on humans, not on animals," Kouichi replied. "I don't think that he could have helped us even if he wanted to."

"We have to get them to a vet as soon as possible," said Kouji.

"But nearly all the vets are closed by now," said Takuya. "How are we going to find one at this hour?"

Kouichi turned to his brother and asked him hopefully, "What about Kinomoto-sensei? We used to call him when Hiroki was still alive." The memory of his dead German shepherd made Kouji winced. He shook his head and said, "It's no good. Dad said that he moved to the United States after Hiroki died."

"You mean you didn't bother to have another one on your contact list?" Takuya asked.

"I didn't think we had to because I didn't want another dog right away after my last one died," Kouji sighed. Lobo whimpered and began to shiver. Sighing apologetically, Kouji took off his jacket and wrapped it around the dog.

"What are we going to do, Kouji?" his brother asked with concern.

"Okay, let's brainstorm everyone," Izumi suggested. "Surely there must be someone we know who can help us!"

All of them were silent for a moment as they tried to think. Shaking their heads in defeat, Lobo gave another whimper.

"Argh! C'mon!" Takuya yelled in frustration. "Isn't there anyone we know who can help us right now?"

"Perhaps I can," said a soothing voice as all of them were suddenly struck by a sudden small breeze and the smell of lavender. Izumi gasped while Takuya stared in surprise at the sudden appearance of a very familiar woman with long, purple hair.

"Kaze-sama!" Izumi cried, her heart dancing with relief.

"The one and only," the Wind Prophetess smiled.

**Author's notes: Sorry that this chapter is shorter than the previous one. There is a reason why Kimi is now acting coldly towards Izumi and the others. Remember, she didn't really want to hang out with them in the first place. But her brother insisted, believing that it would do her some good and she had to go with it because she wanted to make her brother happy. In truth, Kimi never really did like it when Izumi dragged her around town shopping, watching sappy vampire movies, and listening to her talking about clothes and what a girl should do. Kimi only puts up with the entire charade because she does not want Izumi to find out that she's different and a princess in the first place. The scene that Kimi was talking about with Chiaki happened in the previous chapter, but it was offscreen.**

**Kimi's sudden hatred for Izumi and everyone is a moment of confusion in her life that was heavily inspired by Rika from Tamers when she said, "I hate Digimon". Don't worry, she'll come around...eventually.  
**

**Originally, Takashi and Masaki's families aren't supposed to be wealthy, but if you think about it, the main reason they came to know Kimi is through their parents' business connections. This means that their parents' work must be important enough for these boys to meet Kimi during their parents' business affairs. So I had to make Takashi's mom a famous fashion designer and Masaki's father a chief executive of office of some sort of a security company.**

**Also, Kimi comes from a family that is required to learn many languages. This explains why she is quite fluent in English, Japanese, Italian, as well as a few others.**

**_Sei una ragazza molto ipocrita _—In Italian, it means something like, "You are a very hypocritical girl."**


	28. Interrogations

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter 27: Interrogations  
**

Needless to say, no one had heard the approaching footsteps of Kaze until she made her presence known. This was normal because the Wind Prophetess did not _walk_ to the park. As a matter of fact, she rode the air currents and glided towards the group of teenagers without a sound. It was no wonder that Izumi didn't hear her until the very last second.

"Kaze-sama!" Izumi gasped in surprise. True, she was a bit shocked to see her favorite novelist again, but considering the situation, the Italian-Japanese girl cannot help but feel relieved as well. Her heart eased because she had secretly hoped to see Kaze again and now that the witch is here, they can finally get some help as well as some guidance.

"Wait, you're that famous novelist?" Junpei gaped in surprised. "You're the lady who wrote those _Spiritual-holic _books?"

"Whoa, for real?" Tomoki asked, his eyes just as wide as Junpei's.

Kaze smiled while her long, silky purple hair swaying gently with the breeze. "Of course. The one and only. Now," she began, scrutinizing the scene before her, "let's see what we have here."

Her gaze fell upon the twins and their injured Guardian Knights, pitiful in their animal forms. For a moment, her eyes met Lobo and soon, he could hear the woman's thoughts in his head as she discreetly opened up a mental link.

_Well, what do we have here? _She thought. _A dog and a kitten beaten to a pulp. Are your masters not treating you well?_

_Cut the joke, woman! _Lobo growled, obviously not finding it the least bit amusing. Considering the pain that he's in, why should he?

_Well, it appears that your appearance isn't the only thing that still needs some work! _Kaze scoffed. _Really, where are your manners?_

_My apologies, Lady Kaze, _Lobo thought bitterly, wincing from his broken ribs again. _But I did not expect to see you so soon. Forgive me, but surely you know why my unconscious friend and I are like this._

_Yes, but we'll discuss it later, _Kaze thought quickly. Turning to the twins, she said, "From the looks of things, I'd say that your little pets aren't doing so well."

Kouji shot her a poisonous glare and positioned himself between the strange woman in lilac and his dog protectively. "Yeah, what is it to you, lady?" he demanded rudely.

"Kouji, stop it! She's here to help you!" Izumi scolded.

"Yeah, buddy," Takuya added. "Didn't you hear what she said? Maybe she can help us." Turning his attention to Kaze, the brunette asked, "You can help us, right?"

"Naturally," Kaze smiled. She came closer to Kouichi and gently stroke Löwe's fur. "He'll be alright once we get him and Lobo to my friend's place," she reassured him kindly. "I assumed that you've been to Gali's house before, am I right?"

Kouichi nodded. _How does she know Gali?_ Kouichi thought. _Is she a…?_

"Wait, what about your place?" Takuya questioned.

Kaze shook her head. "Gali's place is closer and I'll need her help if you want both of these two to feel better by morning." She was about to bend down and stroke Lobo's ears when Kouji slapped her hand away. Rather than being insulted, Kaze didn't flinched.

"Kouji!" Izumi cried. "You're such a jerk!"

Ignoring her, Kouji continued to glare at this woman, daring her to do it again. "Don't. Touch. My. Dog." He enunciated slowly in a dangerous tone. After what Dusk did to Lobo, Kouji wasn't about to let anyone else lay their fingers on his Guardian Knight.

Putting her hands on her hips, Kaze shook her head in disappointment. "Do you want to help your pets or not? Because if you want your dog to stop whimpering, you'll listen to me and get him to Gali's house where she'll have the proper _tools_…" she said, emphasizing the word. Takuya could tell that she probably meant by _magic_, but with Junpei and Tomoki presented, it was no wonder that she was keeping this a secret. "…the proper _tools_," Kaze repeated, "to help."

"I know Gali," Kouji replied coldly. "But I don't know _you_ enough to trust you." Lobo whimpered again, acting like a poor little (and pitiful) dog trying to beg his master to change his mind.

Kaze shook her head. "Well, young man," she said, although a bit impatiently. "It seems that you and your brother only have two choices. Either you can come with me to Gali's house a few blocks from here where we can help your little friends and relieve them of their misery…and no, I don't mean killing them when I said that," she laughed when Kouji's expression intensified when he heard the phrase, "or two, you can either waste your time searching up the phone book and looking for the right vet to make the trip to your house in the middle of the night to cure your pets."

Kouji stopped to ponder his choices, not liking them one bit.

"So whazzit gonna be, wolf boy?" Kaze joked, poking him in the chest.

"Okay, fine!" Kouji snapped, slapping her perfectly manicured hand away. "Just stop teasing me already!"

"Wait," Takuya interrupted. "Can we come?"

Kaze gave him a smile and shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said, "but I don't think it will be up to me this time," she glanced at Izumi, causing the girl to hold her breath, "Right, Izumi-chan?"

Izumi was confused and was just about to ask Kaze what she meant when suddenly, her cell-phone rang. Looking at the screen, Izumi saw that it was her mother who was calling. But she wasn't the only one who was interrupted. Takuya's mobile phone also rang, but unlike his blond friend, it was his father who was trying to call on the other side of the line.

The both of them turned their backs to everyone in unison, sighed, and flipped their phones open.

"Izumi, where have you been?" Teresa cried, her voice still sobbing.

"Sorry, Mom but—" Izumi started but her mother cut her off.

"No buts, young lady!" said Teresa, fighting through tears. It was clear that not only was she worried, but she was getting furious as well. "Do you realize that there was an earthquake? I've been trying to reach you since!"

"But, Mom!" Izumi protested. "I can't come home right now because—"

"Oh, yes you are! Do you even realize that it's past twilight and Rinaldo's murderer is still out there?" Teresa lectured furiously, causing her daughter to shut her mouth. "Either you come home right now where it's safe, or no more shopping for you!"

Izumi sighed. "Yes, _Mama_," she closed her phone shut and exhaled in great disappointment.

Meanwhile, on Takuya's side, things weren't going great either. From the expression on Takuya's face, the others could tell that he was also in a lot of trouble.

"Takuya!" said his father's voice on the other end. "You have a lot of explaining to do, young man!"

"What? What did I do?" Takuya asked defensively. "What's there to explain?"

"About everything!" Takuya's father seethed. "I just got a call from Inspector Megure and he told me that you were at Orimoto-san's place and with information! Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"But—" Takuya protested.

"No buts! You're in for some serious interrogation when you get home, young man," Takuya's father vented. "Your mother is worried sick because of the earthquake. And so is your brother because you haven't called us to say that you're okay. Now get your sorry hide back here or you're grounded!"

The line went dead.

"Well, if I were you, I would listen to what your parents said," Kaze smiled, feeling a little bit sorry for them. "Your parents are right," she continued. "It's getting late and it would be best for you to go back home where it is safe. You don't want to end up like poor Rinaldo, do you?" Kaze gave Izumi a knowing look.

"Wait a minute!" Junpei spoke, catching on to something. He pointed a finger at Kaze and said, "How on earth did you know about Rinaldo-san?"

Kaze shrugged. "It was on the news, of course," she said. "And I was passing by earlier."

"Well, it looks like we'll see you tomorrow, huh, buddy?" Takuya grinned sheepishly, putting his arm around Kouji's shoulder.

Kouji smirked and shook his head. "Not if you're grounded tomorrow," he pointed out.

"Ah, forget my dad," Takuya laughed. "Like I care if his boss is that pudgy Inspector Megure. It's not like they're gonna throw me in jail just for ditching the questioning earlier, right?"

"You never know, you know?" Junpei added.

"Well, I guessed we'd better be heading back now, too," Tomoki sighed. Turning to face his older friend, he asked, "Right, Junpei-kun?"

"Yeah," Junpei nodded solemnly. Turning to face Kouji, the tallest boy gave him a light-hearted punch to the shoulder. "Hey, hoped that things will work out between you and your girlfriend later."

Kouji was just about to deny that Kimi is his girlfriend for the umpteenth time again, when Junpei cut him off, "And of course, your pets, too."

"Don't worry, buddy," Takuya whispered. "Listen, Kouji. Between you and me, this lady really can _help_ you."

"How can you be so sure?" Kouji whispered back.

"Long story short," Takuya blushed. "Izumi and I were stranded yesterday because of the monsoon, and Kaze was there to help us out. So trust me by trusting her, okay?"

At that moment, Kouji noticed how serious Takuya's voice was as his blushing face suddenly turned stern. There are many occasions when Takuya doesn't seem to be as dead serious as Kouji in times of certain situations as these. But when push comes to shove, Kouji could tell that Takuya had it within himself to be just as reliable and trustworthy as anyone he knew. And this was definitely one of them.

Sighing a deep breath, Kouji nodded to Takuya and walked over to Kaze. This time, he did not glare at her, rather he only gave her an annoyed look and said, "Lead the way."

Kaze smiled and motioned for the twins and their Guardian Knights to follow. Kouji bent down to pick up his dog. Lobo winced in pain but at least he doesn't have to walk for now. As for Kouichi, he turned to his friends sadly and gave them a small wave of good-bye, at the same time, promising to meet up with them later.

Once they were out of the park, Takuya and the other remaining four disbanded for the night.

* * *

Doctor Kotone Watsuki was not home to greet her daughter when Kyochi opened the door. Instead, the first person Kimi saw was the house maid, Sakura Tanaka. Sakura was not much older than Kimi and her brother themselves. In fact, if Tomoki had talked to Kimi more intently earlier today, she would have realized that this young woman standing before her has a sister named Yumi. And as fate would have it, Yumi Tanaka is currently the girlfriend of Yutaka, Tomoki's older brother.

Tomoki Himi doesn't talk about his older brother much, especially not about his love life. Tomoki was just so concentrated on his friends and soccer too much to care, although he has mentioned it once to them but no more than that. If Yutaka is busy because of his intense courses to graduate at the university, his little brother cannot blame him. And if he were to have a girlfriend named Yumi…well, that was not Tomoki's business to butt his nose in either. And besides, he kinda liked Yumi because she was like another older sister to him.

But like Kimi, Sakura is also unaware of the connection. So once she saw both twins at the door, she bowed respectfully and offered to prepare a late dinner instantly.

"Don't mind her," Kyochi said. "She's just not used to having you around." Kimi didn't bother to pay any attention to what he was saying. Shaking his head, Kyochi sighed and took her to his study where he cleaned and mend Kimi's injured wrist again. All the while, his sister remained silent. She was just too angry to start a conversation with her own brother.

After putting the first aid kit away, Kyochi noticed the bloodied bandana again. Carefully, he turned the bloodied side towards himself so that Kimi wouldn't freak when he showed it to her. "Should I throw this away?" he asked.

"**NO!**" Kimi cried, reaching out a hand to snatch the cloth away. But knowing that she'll get blood on herself again, Kyochi held it out of her reach. "Give it back!" she ordered.

Kyochi shook his head. "Not when it's dirty. Sorry," he apologized. Holding her angry gaze, Kyochi held the bandana firmly in his hand. "Does it really mean that much to you?"

"It's not mine, remember?" she mumbled under her breath, her cheeks flushing red. "It belonged to that Minamoto boy," she said. Luckily for her, Kimi was able to hold her voice steady.

Kyochi nodded. And so it was. How could he have forgotten about that? That Kouji boy saved his sister, so this piece of bloodied cloth must have meant something to him. The least he could do was restore it and give it back to his sister's keeper in gratitude.

"I'll have it clean," Kyochi said. Suddenly, a sly smile spread across his face. He just couldn't resist a little tease. "I'll bet that you want to give it back to him yourself now, don't you?"

It was the wrong thing to say. At this point, Kimi was already confused about what she felt towards those kids. Having her brother nudging her in that general direction wasn't helping. Furiously, she pushed past Kyochi and ran for her room without another word. Surprised that she had pushed him, Kyochi took chase but she had already slammed the door in his face.

"Kimi?" Kyochi called, concerned. "Kimi come on out."

Nothing.

"Kimi, I didn't mean it," he apologized. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have teased you. Please come out of there."

Still nothing.

"Kyochi-sama?" Sakura spoke up. She had been concerned so she decided to come up and check. "Is everything alright?"

Kyochi sighed. "It's nothing. My sister is just tired." He stepped away from his sister's door and followed the maid into the kitchen. "Let's leave her alone for now."

If both of them had stayed a little longer, they would have heard a muffled sob coming from behind Kimi's door as she cried herself to sleep.

* * *

Gali sighed as she continued to look out of her window screen sadly. A while ago, Gali was quietly having dinner by herself when she sensed Kaze's aura. Although she wasn't entirely surprised to see her old friend, she was even less surprised to see the identical twins accompanying her. Each twin was carrying their own Guardian Knights and from the sullen looks on their faces, Gali could tell that they had had another encounter with Dusk. After a quick word, Gali motioned the boys into her living room and gave Kaze a nod. Kaze summoned her wind magic and quickly made a dome of air surrounding the house. It was a barrier. After what Dusk did, there was no chance she would risk in having him attacking the boys again.

Kouichi gave Löwe a nudge, hoping to wake him up but Gali stopped him and said that his Guardian Knight should rest and not be burdened by his physical pain. She gently took the cat out of the boy's arm and began to stroke his fur. Suddenly, her hands began to glow and with each stroke, she was mending Löwe's broken bones. She ignored the minor bruises because they were not as important. They can be dealt with later on with a few bandages, a cup of hot tea, and lying in the softest cushion.

She later gave him to Kaze who began to wrap the bandages around his body, especially where he was stomped on mercilessly by Dusk. Lobo's turn was next and as Gali stroke him to heal his broken ribs, Kaze served the twins her special brewed tea to which she magically summoned from her own house. Kouichi nearly jumped out of his seat when the box of tea suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Needless to say, after all they've seen and been through, this was the first time that they had actually seen someone manifested an object just by thinking it. Kouji on the other hand, wasn't as surprised. After the things he went through today to save Kimi's neck, a manifested tea set was nothing in comparison.

As Kaze wrapped the bandages around Lobo's body, he began his story. He told the two women about the murder scene at the Orimoto's family restaurant and how it caused Kimi to run away. Confused at first, they all took chase through the chaotic trails she left behind in her wake, but only for them to sensed Dusk's presence being near. Lobo didn't understand how he and Kouji could have gotten separate from his brother and Löwe but one thing is for sure, it would not have made much of a difference in the end. They now knew that Dusk had taken on a new host and from his last batch of kill, he had surprised them all with a few newfound powers. When Lobo explained how Dusk used his earth power to attack Lobo and broke his ribs, both women's eyes widen with concern. He didn't stop there. Once he started, he knew he had to continue to tell them the dreaded news that Dusk had unknowingly acquired more powers. The worst part was telling Gali that not had Dusk killed two of her old friends, but her own brother as well in order to possess his powers.

The twins gave each other confused look. They never would have thought that Gali would have a brother. They expected her to gasp, but she didn't. Her face remained solemn as she sighed and got to her feet. She walked over to the sliding window glass doors and looked out into the dark night.

"So," she said calmly, but sadly, "Cavaliere is dead. Is that really true, Lobo?"

Lobo nodded. "I'm sorry, Gali," he said, sharing in her loss. "I'd didn't think it was possible but Dusk clearly showed us that he can now use his powers over magnetism as well."

Gali did not reply at first. "Did Dusk tell you where he found my brother?"

"No," Lobo replied, "only that he dumped the corpse into a place once known as the Roman Lake."

"The Mediterranean Sea," Kaze said simply. "You're not thinking of going there are you, Gali? It could be a trap."

"There won't be," said Gali. "The only trap Dusk has in mind is to torment me if I ever find my brother's corpse again. But that's not the main point right now." She turned to face her friend with an unreadable expression. "Dusk is now more powerful than we had thought. With Techro, Elfen, and my brother dead, we can only assume that he has a new agenda."

"But we don't know what," Kaze added.

"I'm sorry," Kouichi spoke up, confused. "You must think we're ignorant but could you go back a bit? Who exactly are those people?" he asked.

Kaze and Gali gave the twins a pondering look. "As you know," Kaze began, "this is not your first lives. You two are now aware that you are the reincarnation of the two Lusterian princes, James and Jason."

"Yeah, so?" Kouji asked rudely. Kaze ignored him.

"You must also know that centuries before that time, there was an order," she continued. "This order was made up of ten members, each with their own roles and elemental powers. They were called the Ten Legendary Warriors. Those Warriors that Dusk killed; Techro, Elfen, and Cavaliere…they were members of that order."

"As were the two of us," Gali said.

"You were a member?" Kouichi blinked. Both women nodded. "What was the main purpose of the Legendary Warriors?" he asked.

"The order was created to protect the balance of power among the many kingdoms and empires throughout Europe," said Gali patiently. "As centuries passed, we began to use our powers to help maintain the balance between good and evil for the benefits of the world. I was once known as the Oracle of Delphi in ancient Greece thousands of years before I settled in Lusteria during the fifteenth century."

"How is it possible that you are immortal?" Kouji questioned but Gali chose to ignore it.

"The important thing was that we had two members who were brothers and they kept all Ten Warriors' powers in check," Gali continued. She turned to face Kouji. "One of them was named Dawnius, a sorcerer in light magic and his brother was named…Dusk."

Kouichi gasped and the next thing he knew his brother jumped to his feet glaring at Gali with fury in his eyes.

"What kinda sick game are you playing?" Kouji snapped, pointing at Gali. The Water Oracle remained calm, her face sad at the memory of Dawnius' murder. Kouji shook his head, frustrated. "Are you telling me that this Dusk…this monster! He was a good guy? What do you take me for? From what I've seen so far, that son of a bitch has been nothing but a thorn in our sides since the medieval time! Or so says you!"

"No one is born evil, Kouji Minamoto," Gali said calmly. "Evil is taught and it is not something that you are born with. The same thing can be said for Dusk." She gestured him to sit. He refused at first, but seeing that there was no point he complied.

"Dusk wasn't always a vampire," Kaze commented. "He was once one of the most talented wizards who can manipulate darkness and shadows in the world."

"You never told us about this," Lobo spoke up. Kouji and his brother gave him a surprised look.

"You mean you didn't know?" Kouji asked him. Lobo shook his head.

"We were only aware that he was someone whose intention was so dark, his heart cannot be touched or pierced by love," Lobo explained. "By the time he came to you, Kouichi-kun," he nodded to the older twin, "it was already too late for him. He was already cruel and twisted when we first heard of him." He turned to Gali and Kaze, his eyes betraying the hurt in his heart. "Why? Why didn't you tell us?"

"It wasn't that important," Gali said. "You didn't really need to know. And even if you did, what would you do? Try to convince him to turn back into what he was? It was as you said, Lobo. It was already too late for him."

"What happened to him?" Kouichi spoke up. "How did he become what he is now?"

"Dusk wanted more power," Kaze answered. Kouichi suddenly realized that her eyes were watery. It was as if the memory was too sad and dark for her to handle even after all these times. "Dusk wanted to control the ultimate power of darkness. He wanted to do what was unthinkable. He wanted to become fully immortal and powerful."

"But I thought—" Kouichi interrupted but Gali cut him off.

"We may be immortal and powerful in our own abilities right now, but that does not mean that we are invincible, Kouichi-kun," she said sternly. Kouichi held his tongue. "We are not gods. Only a selected few who were blessed by the gods themselves…we can't control everything and we can even die when our time comes."

"It wasn't enough for Dusk," Kaze said. "He wanted to become truly immortal and to control the darkest and forbidden sides of darkness. To do that, he must obtain what is known as the Galis Star, the ultimate source of magic. It consumed him and he transformed himself into a monster by using the evil sides of dark magic."

"But as you know, there is always a price for power," Gali nodded to Lobo.

"What did he do to trade for that?" Lobo asked, afraid to hear the answer.

Both women were quiet, but at last Kaze blinked away a tear and said, "Dusk murdered his own brother, Dawnius as the price when the Sorcerer of Light tried to save him."

"It was too late to save Dawnius," Gali said and the entire room fell dead silent for a moment. Then she spoke again. "But it wasn't too late to stop Dusk. Kaze and I and even a few of the other Warriors, were able to stop Dusk from achieving his goal. We tricked him and separated his soul from his body and hide it away where he will never find it."

"As for the Galis Star," Kaze added. "We scattered it across the globe as fragments of a single piece so that he will have a difficult time getting his hands on them. "

Kouji, still furious, clenched his teeth and spoke, his voice quavering and angry. "You knew that all of this time," Kouji growled. "And you picked now to tell us?"

"It is never a good idea to reveal more than you need to know at the same time," Gali said simply. "It would have overwhelmed you."

Kouji held his gaze at her, refusing to back down. He did not retort, instead he asked, "What does Kimi have to do with all of this?" The women blinked and Kouji demanded, "What does Dusk want with her?"

Kaze shook her head. "I'm sorry, Kouji-kun, but I'm afraid not even I know that."

"Are you kidding me?" Kouji snapped, pointing at them furiously. "I found him slitting the back of her wrist! She was in hysteria when I tried to get her away from him." He looked down at his trembling fist. He was clearly frustrated that he had let something horrible happen to her. "From the looks of it, she's afraid of blood and now she probably hates me."

"Why would you think that?" Kaze asked gently. "Did she say that she hates you?"

"She says that she no longer trust us," Kouji muttered. "And I don't blame her."

"Why do you care what happens to her?" Gali asked, secretly testing him. She needed to see if her plan to put things into place was working.

"Because I can't stand seeing Dusk terrorize someone, not even her," said Kouji.

"Is that your only reason?" Gali asked, unconvinced. "You only wanted to protect her because you know that Dusk wants something from her? Or is there something else?"

Kouji was about to nod but then he stopped himself. Instead, he shook his head and shot her a cold glare.

"There is nothing going on between me and her," Kouji said. "She's nothing more than someone I have to look out as a price for being in her brother's debt."

"Kouji..." Kouichi gasped quietly. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Plus, she's hemophobic," Kouji added coldly. "It's for her own good if I can keep Dusk away from her. Otherwise...she would probably be driven to the brink of madness."

* * *

Meanwhile at the Watsuki's residence, Sakura was marinating the beef when suddenly her mobile phone rang. The house maid quickly washed her hand before picking up the small device only to hear the familiar voice of her sister. And from the sound of Yumi's tone, it was clear that she was seriously upset.

"What happened, Yumi-chan?" Sakura asked. She was holding the mobile phone in one hand while the other was putting the meat on the already sizzling frying pan. "You had an argument with Yutaka-kun? About what?"

"He's such an idiot!" her sister's voice rang furiously on the other end. "Honestly, I don't even know why I'd bothered going out with him in the first place!"

"What's the big deal? It's just a silly ring," the older sister reasoned as she continued to seasoned the meat with a little bit of salt, sugar, and pepper.

"It wasn't just any ring! It was an engagement ring!" Yumi pointed out. Sakura stopped in her cooking track. Luckily she already turned the stove to minimum, saving the food from burning.

"Don't tell me that he already proposed to you," Sakura asked cautiously, switching the phone to her other ear.

"No, of course not!" Yumi defended. "What I meant was it was an engagement ring that looked exactly like the one Mother had. You know? The one that we lost as kids because we were playing with it?"

Sakura remembered. She and her sister had been going around in their mother's jewelry boxes when they were young and had accidentally lost their mother's favorite ring. She had been searching for a replacement for years, but the design had been unique as it was hand-crafted.

"Okay, so what's the story again, Sis?" Sakura asked again. Carefully, she finished cooking the meat and plated it with the vegetables and rice on the side.

"Okay, I told Yutaka-kun why I wanted that ring to surprise Mom for her birthday next week when we were on our date," Yumi repeated, annoyed that she had to tell the story again. "Of course, I've decided to leave to make a withdrawal from the bank and when I came back to the show, it was gone!"

"So, he bought it to surprise you?" Sakura guessed, not seeing what the big deal was.

"As if!" Yumi retorted with disgust. "I was leaving the shop when I saw Yuri wearing it! She was practically showing it off to me in my face just to spite me!" Sakura could hear the disgust and fury in her voice as she swore, "That rotten bitch!"

Sakura sighed after hearing that name. Yuri Yamamoto was their next door neighbor who became the two sisters' rival since their early childhood. Needless to say, Yuri had never been the nicest girl growing up with as she was one of the snobbiest classmates Sakura had ever seen. To make matters worse, Yuri was a Yutaka's previous girlfriend before he started to go out with Yumi. That had infuriated Yuri to no end and she had been doing whatever she can to make her relationship with Yutaka horrible. Needless to say, it's working this time.

"Yumi-chan, I'm sure Yutaka-kun didn't mean to tell her," Sakura said, but her sister was too furious to listen to reason. She was now too blind to see the truth.

"I hate him!" She cried. "I hate Yutaka! He's so selfish!"

"Oh, c'mon!" said her older sister. "I'm sure that it was just an accident. He probably didn't know that Yuri was going to buy it when he told her."

"Well, he should have!" Yumi snapped. "It's over between us!"

Sakura shook her head. She was done listening to this. "Grow up, Yumi. Maybe you should try to see things from his point of view before you decide to do something stupid."

"Are you saying that I'm wrong?" Yumi seethed.

"Yes, and I'm saying that you're over-reacting!" Sakura retorted, but before she could go any further, her sister screamed at her through the phone.

"You always have to be right, don't you? And here I thought that I could count on you to get through this!" Yumi screamed, her voice barely clear. "You're just like Yutaka! You never understood how I feel! You're just as bad as that Yuri!"

"Yumi!" Sakura cried, holding on to her cell phone with both hands. "Yumi, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I hate you!" her sister screamed. "I hate you all and I hope that you are damn broken by it!"

And with that, the phone clicked. Her sister had hung up. Sakura stared at her mobile phone in confusion for a moment, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"Sakura-san?" said a voice. Sakura looked up to see Kyochi standing at the kitchen entrance, a look of curiosity and concern on his face. "Is everything alright in here? I thought I heard something."

Sakura put her phone away and shook her head, trying to reassure her employer. "It's nothing Kyochi-sama. My sister was just venting out her frustration over the phone. She's upset with her boyfriend."

Kyochi gave her an unreadable look but nodded anyway. He was about to say something but Sakura did not want to talk about the details. Instead, she put on a smile and said, "Dinner's ready! I made one of your favorites. Why don't you sit down and eat while I bring the other dish to Kimi-sama's room?"

She quickly grabbed a tray and plated the food and drink as well as the utensils. As she went up the stairs, she thought to herself, "Maybe I shouldn't have pushed Yumi-chan so much. I should probably have waited until she cooled down a bit. Maybe she'll see things more clearly in a few hours."

She stopped in front of Kimi's room and knocked. There was no response.

"Kimi-sama?" she said. "I made you dinner." Nothing. "Are you asleep?" Suddenly, she heard a thumping sound. Sakura leaned in and pressed her ear to the smooth surface of the door. It wasn't just one. There was a series of them and it all sounded as if something is being thrown against the wall but without the crashing.

"Kimi-sama?" Sakura repeated. "Do you want your dinner?"

"Leave me alone!" Kimi shouted. It was followed by more thumping sound.

Sakura sighed and shook her head. She placed the tray of food on the floor next to the door just like guests would at a hotel. "I'll leave your dinner tray by the door." Then she got up and left without waiting for Kimi to reply.

Kimi wasn't very hungry. She had lost her appetite since the incident at the park. Instead, she just lay back against her bed and stared at the wall opposite to her, its smooth surface now covered with daggers. In her frustration, she had used her shuriken-jutsu skill and threw most of her spare daggers at the wall, murmuring, "Leave me alone…"

* * *

Meanwhile at the Kanbara residence, the atmosphere was about to become tense as the interrogation begins in a few moments. Once Takuya stepped in through the door, his little brother Shinya started to dance around him.

"You're in trouble! You're in trouble!" Shinya sang. "You've done it this time, bro! Dad is really mad right now. It took five of Mom's soup just to calm him down enough to talk to her."

"Where are they?" Takuya muttered miserably. He bent down to take off his shoes and set them aside near the shoe-racks by the entrance.

"Mom went shopping," Shinya said, shrugging. "She ran out of ginger for the soup so she'll be back later."

"And Dad?" Takuya asked, dreading the answer.

Shinya grinned. "In his office." Turning his head towards down the hall, Shinya yelled, **"DAD! TAKUYA-NII-SAN'S HOME!"**

"Shinya! You brat!" Takuya snapped. Darn it! He was hoping that he could sneak back up into his room before his dad finds out.

Suddenly, his father's voice spoke from his office. "Takuya," said his father. "In my office. Now."

"Yeah, Dad!" Takuya replied. "I'm coming, I'm coming…"

"You're in trouble!" Shinya sang, dancing around Takuya as he dragged his feet across the floor. "You're in trouble! You're so grounded! Dad's gonna kill you! And I get to play your video game and you can't stop me because you're gonna be grounded!"

_This is supposed to be the little brother who's worried about me? _Takuya thought.

They both stopped in front of their father's office door.

"Shinya, that's enough," said their father. "Go upstairs and brush your teeth."

"But Daaaaddd!" Shinya whined. "I wanna stay!"

His father pointed towards the stairs. "Upstairs. Now."

Shinya pouted, and went upstairs, leaving his brother alone to face their father's fury. Takuya, sighed as he looked at his father from across the room.

Hiroaki Kanbara is a man who was rarely at home, although he had always tried to be a loving and firm father to his family. He is a man who enjoys playing soccer and baseball with his kids whenever he gets a day off. Although rarely this special quality time could take place due to the constant emergencies at his office. Hiroaki is a police investigator who works on the 1st division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. The 1st division usually deals with some of the most dangerous cases, including homicides. Even when his boss, Inspector Juzo Megure, approves of his days off from work Takuya usually finds his father constantly being pulled back into a case whenever it's near their district. One time on Shinya's birthday three years ago, Hiroaki almost missed the party because he was stuck on a murder case with his bumbling idiot colleague, Officer Wateru Takagi. His wife, Yukiko Kanbara, was furious. She tried calling him to come home but he couldn't leave his work. Luckily, the high school detective Shinichi Kudo was able to solve the case with great ease and Hiroaki was able to leave instantly, leaving Takagi and the Inspector to deal with the murderer. He rushed home quickly, making a quick stop at the local toy store to pick up a present for his youngest son. Everything had turned out all right in the end that day.

But not today. In fact, it hadn't been a good day for a while. Not since the Obon Festival. Since then, the series of bloody murder, now designated as the "Bloody Vampire Case", had had all of the division stooped. Inspector Megure was frustrated with the results and as one of his boss' underlings, Hiroaki was frustrated as well. They had been working day and night trying to catch the criminal, searching high and low for the smallest clue that could be useful. But all they found so far are the shattered glasses of street lamps and none of them have any fingerprints.

Hiroaki looked down at his copy of the case's files. All of them were consisted of the notes he and his colleagues had taken accompanied by the photos of the victims as well as the crime scenes. Hiroaki had been looking at the most recent one from today at the local Italian restaurant. Coincidentally, it was the place where his oldest son, Takuya, liked to hang out with his friends during the weekends for lunch.

"Takuya, sit down," Hiroaki said. He ran his hand through his hair. From the looks of things, Takuya could tell that his dad was extremely tired from the lines and bags under his eyes. "Takuya," said Hiroaki. "Where were you today?"

Takuya shrugged casually. "Oh, you know," he said, hoping to ease his father's mood. "At the park with my friends, Shibuya, the movies, and…well…at Izumi's place…" He paused and asked cautiously, "Why? What's the problem, Dad? I told Mom this morning and she knows about it."

Hiroaki shook his head and reached for a photo of Ami Tsujimura, showing it to his son. "Why didn't you tell me that Ami was your classmates?"

"_Is_," Takuya corrected automatically. Hiroaki blinked. "She's not dead yet, Dad. She's _is _still Izumi's friend."

"See?" his father pointed out. "If you knew about these things, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"What's the deal, Dad?" Takuya asked, confused.

"The deal was that my colleagues and I have been running around the entire city trying to gather information about this _Bloody Vampire Case _as well as catching the criminal! I spent hours gathering information. Do you realize how tired I am?" Takuya blinked as his father continued. "I didn't find out that Ami Tsujimura was one of your friend's classmates until Inspector Shiratori told me."

"You mean that snobby and conceited guy at work who has a crush on your friend, Sato-san?" Takuya asked, grinning. His dad wasn't in love with Miwako Sato since they were former classmates back in college. However, Ninzaburo Shiratori is one of her many so-called suitors at work and he constantly belittles his father as well as his other friend, Takagi (who also has a crush on Miss Sato). Shiratori's condescending attitudes towards Takuya's father often annoys him to the point where sometimes he would try to beat Shiratori in gathering information first. Apparently, Takuya's lack of corporation has pitted Hiroaki to 2nd place this time.

"Dad, is this about you getting back at Shiratori-again?" Takuya asked.

"This is no time for jokes, Takuya!" Hiroaki scolded, slamming the table and causing Takuya to jump out of his chair. "The others and I have been up to our necks trying to figure out this case! Shiratori-san and I may have had our differences, but this is more than just a game now. There are nearly 7 people dead now and we're still not getting anywhere."

Takuya realized what his father was trying to say. Because of Dusk's swift and precise skill, there were barely any evidences pointing towards him as the killer. It was a cruel mock towards his father and the rest of the police division as the proud protectors of the city they are. How could they, the mere mortal policemen and investigators of Tokyo, battle against Dusk who had had centuries of experienced to perfect his art of killing? Takuya understood that his father needed all the information as fast as possible and without Takuya' corporation, he and the other officers were getting nowhere.

"Takuya, what can you tell me about Ami-chan?" Hiroaki asked as he sighed tiredly.

"Nothing much," Takuya said, lowering his head. "She's just one of Izumi's girlfriends in school. A lot of boys liked her but she has a crush on Kouji like most of her friends. Of course, he turned her down a few days ago…"

"Was there a reason?" his father asked. Takuya shook his head.

"No," he lied. "Kouji was just being…Kouji. He always turned them down flat."

"How did you find out about her survival?"

"Um…some kid told us…" Takuya said, remember how Takashi and Masaki showed up that day at the park. Hiroaki's eyebrow arched up with interest.

"What kid?" he asked.

"Just some kid who happens to live near the area where you found Ami's body," Takuya replied sheepishly.

"And she's still alive, right?" Hiroaki asked.

Takuya nodded. "Yep, we got in contact with a doctor there and he told us that she's fine for now," he said.

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Hiroaki asked. "I could've informed her parents—"

"Don't worry, her parents know," Takuya interrupted, trying his best to calm his dad's frustration. "We ran into them at the hospital."

Hiroaki sighed and lean back against his chair tiredly. He glanced at the crime scene photos in front of him and gave his son a weary look. "About the case that happened at the Orimoto's restaurant," he said. "Inspector Megure told me that you dropped by and then you left in a hurry."

Takuya gulped.

"Is there any particular reason why you left the scene of the crime in such a hurry?"

"Dad, why are you interrogating me like I'm some criminal?" Takuya protested defensively. "My friends and I just happens to be there. As for the running away, one of my friend's sister got…um…claustrophobic! Yeah, so that's why she ran away. The others and I got worried so we ran after her…"

"A girl?" Hiroaki raised an eyebrow. "It wasn't Izumi-chan? I thought she was the only girl in your gang."

Takuya wanted to kick himself right now. What was he thinking? What if his dad finds out that Kimi's a princess and what if Kimi finds out that he spilled the bean? She was right. He can't keep his mouth shut.

"Takuya," Hiroaki repeated. "Who were you talking about?"

Takuya gulped. He'll have to think of something quick. If he lied too much, his dad will find out and ground him for sure! There has got to be some sort of truth that he could tell his father but without revealing Kimi's heritage…wait! Kyochi, of course!

"Oh, you see, Dad," Takuya began. "One of our new friends is this medical student who works at the hospital where Ami-chan is. Turns out he has a sister named Kimi and she was just hanging around with us today." Hiroaki gave him a look that seems to say that he's unconvinced. Takuya rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, trying to laugh it off as best as he could without worrying his father. "Seriously, Dad. There's nothing going on. The gang and I just met a couple of new kids to hang out with today. We were just planning to drop by Izumi-chan's place for some food. That's when we ran into Inspector Megure. Kimi got _claustrophobic_ because it was kinda crowded I guessed…and she just took off. We ran after her to see if she's okay and later that earthquake happened. Sure, we were a little shaken but otherwise we were all in one piece!"

Hiroaki sighed and ran his fingers through his hair again. "So you know nothing about the other victims then?"

Takuya shook his head. "Other than Ami-chan from school and Rinaldo-san who works for the Orimoto's restaurant, nope!" he replied.

Hiroaki shook his head guiltily. He gave Takuya an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, son," he said. "Really, I'm tired and with all of the crazy things that have happened, I assumed that you and your friends would know at least something helpful to the case since you all have some sort of connection to the victims. I'm sorry. I guessed I'm just being paranoid right now."

Takuya looked down at his socks. "It's okay, Dad," he replied. "You were just doing your job. I'm sorry that this…this…this creep had been giving you a hard time at work."

"Yeah, but with things going on like this, it looks like we'll have to be more careful, especially at night."

"What about Mom?" Takuya realized, remembering that Shinya said that their mother went food shopping. "She's not alone right now, is she?"

Hiroaki shook his head. "She went with our two neighbors next door. Since the attacks were all focused on those who were alone, I asked her to go with at least two people."

Takuya sighed with relief. Good, at least Dusk won't think twice about attacking his family.

"But being cautious isn't enough," Hiroaki continued. "Look, Takuya. I want to make something clear since you're the oldest. With recent events at work, I want you to stay close to your friends and family, okay? And if anyone of them is in trouble, you'll give them a hand okay?"

Takuya nodded.

"And if there's anything you and your friends find out or know that might help with this case, come to me, okay, son?"

Takuya clenched his teeth and fist, the whites of his knuckles showing. He really wanted to help his dad. He knew who the culprit is and he could guess how and why he's killing these people. But after everything, Takuya knew that he can't. He can't risk putting his dad in danger. He doesn't want to see his dad getting involved with this. The less he knew about Dusk the better. So even now, it's best to let his father and his colleagues run around blind.

Takuya looked at his head and tried to put on the most convincing smile and gave him a thumbs-up. "No problem, Dad!" He lied. "If I ever find out who this creep is, I'll tell you or Inspector Megure right away!"

Hiroaki nodded and was about to add something when the phone rang. It was Sato-san and from the tone of her voice on the other end, things weren't looking good. It was another victim, but this time…the act was more brutal. Hiroaki shook his head and told his colleague that he would be there as soon as possible.

"Dad?" Takuya asked.

"It'll be okay, son," Hiroaki reassured him as he put on his coat and grabbed his police note-pad and his gun. "I'll be back tomorrow morning. Tell your mother that I'll be working late again."

Takuya silently watched his dad left the house and stood alone in his office alone for a while. He bent over the desk and reached for the photos of the crime scenes. Flipping through them, Takuya growled with disgust when he stopped at the last photo…Ami Tsujimura.

Yes, it was for the best. Hiroaki Kanbara and the police must not find out the truth about this case. Takuya will avenge Ami with Izumi's help. As long as he could track down the bearer of the Galis Star, he'll still have a chance against Dusk.

Suddenly, Takuya felt something vibrating in his pocket. It was his mobile phone and from the screen the call was from Izumi.

"Hello, Izumi?" Takuya said. "Hey, what's up?"

"Takuya…" Izumi's voice broke between what sounded like a sniffle as if she had been crying for a while. "Takuya…the…the…"

Takuya held his phone with both hands with concern as if he was caressing her face. "Izumi, what's wrong?"

"Takuya…" she repeated. "It's glowing…"

* * *

An hour ago before Izumi made her phone call to Takuya, she was downstairs in the kitchen, getting reprimanded by her worried parents.

"Mom, you worry too much!" Izumi pouted, slurping through her bowl of spaghetti and clams. When Izumi came home, her stomach was grumbling with hunger. Her parents ushered her into the kitchen where she was served one of the menu's dishes. Her parents were sitting across on the other side of the table, lecturing her about the danger of staying out with a serial killer on the loose. Izumi doesn't want to discuss about it right now, but if she doesn't clear it up with her concerned parents then they'll never let her out of their sight!

Grabbing a napkin, Izumi whipped the tomato sauce from her lips. "Seriously, it wasn't even that late!"

"But take a look at the news!" Teresa scolded. "Don't you remember how it all started out with those victims? Including your classmate and Rinaldo? They were all found dead after going out alone after dark!"

"I was with my friends!" Izumi protested. "Honestly, there's nothing to worry about, Mom. You can trust them."

"How can I when one of them caused that accident down the street?" Teresa snapped. Izumi lowered her head and silently cursed at Kimi for crossing the street in a hurry. But Teresa wasn't done. "And what about that earthquake? Why didn't you call us? Honestly, Izumi!"

"Your mother has been worried sick about you all day since Rinaldo's murder, Izumi-chan," said Romano. "You should've called to let your mother and I know that you were safe. Can't you see that today had been a real mess for all of us?"

"Dad, you're treating me like a child!" Izumi protested. "You guys are overreacting! I don't have to listen to this!"

The last sentence was the wrong thing to say and Izumi knew it when Teresa reached across the table and slapped her across the cheek, a hint of fury and hurt in her eyes. "Don't you dare talk to me in that tone, young lady!"

Izumi caressed her stinging cheek, fighting back tears in her eyes. But she was not the one who was hurt the most at the table. Izumi realized how desperately worried her mother was as Teresa continued to scold her through sobbing tears.

"Is it wrong for me to worry? Is it wrong for me to care? I'm your mother and you should realize that being the executive chef of this place isn't my only job!" Izumi was speechless. She couldn't find it in herself to say anything. The only thing that she could do was sit and listened. "I was afraid when I found Rinaldo dead this morning. And when I realized that there is a serial killer out there, my only concern is you! You're always hanging around with your friends these days! You barely call home anymore. How am I supposed to know if you're alright when something terrible has happened? Like that earthquake a few hours ago? Do you expect me to sit here calmly, waiting days on end without news until you feel like coming home?"

"Teresa, that's enough," said Romano, putting his hand on her shoulder. She couldn't take it anymore as she leaned in against her husband's shoulder crying while he comforts her as if they were young lovers back in Venice. Romano sighed and gave his daughter and serious look.

"Izumi, look… Obviously, a lot of things had happened these past few days and I'm a little bit concerned, too. Your mother has a point, though. You haven't been at home lately these past few…well, three years in fact."

"Dad, I…" Izumi began but Romano cut her off.

"I mean when I was your age, I had friends, too. But I also had responsibilities," Romano lectured. Izumi was about to roll her eyes as she sensed another one of her parents' When-I-was-your-age moral lessons. But she fought the urge to, knowing how much her father hated when she does that especially when he's talking. "I was already working part-time in my father's restaurant; cooking, cleaning, accounting, as well as waiting on the guests! I let you have more freedom than I could ever have when I was your age because I didn't want to be like your strict grandfather. I thought that if I could let you have fun as a kid, you could have a more cheerful childhood."

Izumi raised an eyebrow. Officially, she is completely at a lost. Izumi doesn't know where her dad is going with this conversation, but from the sounds of things…it wasn't looking good for her. "Dad, what are you trying to say?"

Romano sighed again, hoping that his decision doesn't have to come to this. "Your mother and I have been thinking. Perhaps we spoiled you too much. We let you go wherever you want with your friends and gave you however much money you needed for school and shopping. But recently, you've been more concern with your friends than with us. Especially when you're around that Kanbara boy!"

"With the recent things happening, we think that perhaps letting you hang around him had been a bad idea," Teresa said. She whipped her tears away and put on a solemn face. "I'm sorry, Izumi, but I think it's not such a good idea for you to be around him lately."

Izumi's eyes widen with great shock. She wasn't hearing this. She wasn't hearing this! Not from her own parents! She can't bear to hear what they have to say next but there's no stopping them.

"I'm sorry, dear, but I think letting you hang around with that Kanbara boy is setting up a bad example for you," Romano said.

"Dad…Mom…?"

"Izumi," her mother began. "We don't want you to be around that boy anymore."

**To be continued…**

**Author's notes: Sorry for the long wait. University studies had been driving me crazy.**

**Aside from Shinichi Kudo and Inspector Juzo Meguro in the manga/anime series _Detective Conan_...Wateru Takagi, Ninzaburo Shiratori, Miwako Sato are the three main police inspectors working under the Inspector in the 1st division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Station. In Detective Conan, Officer Sato is the diva of the building as practically every policemen falls for her (although, she is quite clueless about this because she's so dedicated to her work). Takagi and Shiratori are both in love with her and wants to marry her. In the manga and anime, they're always competing with one another to win her attention and affection. Because Shiratori came from a rich family background, he tends to be the most condescending person in the unit while Takagi has a lot more hulmility and he's meek.**

**I'd thought it would be fun to have Takuya's dad as a homocide policeman.  
**


	29. The Sparrow

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter 28: The Sparrow  
**

"What do you mean I can't hang around with Takuya anymore?" Izumi cried, glaring furiously at her parents from across the table.

Romano held up a hand in defense, trying his best to calm his distraught daughter. "Your mother is overreacting, Izumi," he explained. "What she meant to say is that we don't want you to be around that Kanbara boy for…a while."

But Izumi wasn't satisfied. "Why?" she demanded, pointing at her parents accusingly. "You'd never had a problem with me hanging around him before!"

"That's the problem," Teresa said, matching her daughter's glare. "I'd thought he was a nice boy in the beginning, but now I'm starting to have my doubts."

"Takuya never gave me any trouble before!" Izumi said defensively.

"Oh, really?" her mother questioned. "What about that time when he made you missed your cousin's wedding toast?" Teresa demanded. She held up her hands and began to count them off, listing her so-called 'bad-deeds-that-Takuya-got-my-daughter-into'. "Or the time when he set one of our tablecloths on fire? Or the time when he broke one of our windows…and the fish tank by your usual table? And that time he caused Enrico's accident?"

"Your mother and I had to work overtime to cover Enrico's absence while he was in the hospital on account of his broken arm and his broken leg," Romano reminded.

"But those were just accidents!" Izumi retorted. "Takuya never meant to hurt anyone. He's just like to clown around sometimes."

"But the boy jumps into things before thinking," Romano pointed out, causing Izumi to hold her tongue. "Honestly, your mother and I have never seen anyone so reckless. Every time he jumps into a situation before thinking, he causes trouble!" Izumi suddenly remembered the event at the movie theater earlier that day when Takuya made a fool of himself (and Kouji) when he tried to "rescue Kimi from her so-called kidnappers"…who turned out to be her bodyguards.

"But that's just the way he is!" Izumi continued to protest. "It's not like he can help it."

"Regardless, his irrational behaviors are a bad influence on you," Teresa stated. "Not only is it a bad habit of his, he clearly involves you in it several times as well!"

"But—" Izumi said, but her mother cut her off.

"May I need to remind you that if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have to pay Enrico's medical bill last year?" she said.

"This isn't fair!" Izumi cried. "It's not fair for you to judge him like that and you know it!"

"Look, this discussion is not up for debate," said Teresa firmly. "We don't want you to hang around that boy for the time being because things had been complicated. We would rather have you here helping us with the restaurant."

"With Rinaldo gone, it is going to be difficult for us to look for a replacement," Romano noted. "What, with the news all over the places today, no one will want to look for a job here for a while. We're just doing what we think is best for you right now."

"Well you're doing a very good job by doing the opposite!" Izumi cried.

"Not another word, young lady," Teresa warned.

"You can't do this to me! What about our camping trip? You said that I could go with them to the lake!"

"You're not going," Teresa confirmed coldly as she stood up and placed both of her hands on her hips. "You're staying right here where we can keep an eye on you. Now go upstairs because I will be expecting you in the kitchen tomorrow morning."

Izumi's lips trembled and her eyes began to water with rage, frustration, and shock. Without another word, she ran out of the kitchen and made her way towards the stairs to the third floor. Although the family lives in a three story building, Romano and Teresa could hear the sound of a slamming door once their daughter made it into her room.

Izumi didn't bother to turn on the lights. Instead, she just threw herself onto her bed and screamed through teary eyes.

"It's not fair! It's not fair! IT'S NOT FAIR!" she cried, her voice muffled meaninglessly through her pillow. "They can't keep me lock up here! They can't keep me away from the others…especially not from Takuya!"

Downstairs, Romano watched silently at first as his wife picked up Izumi's dinner plate and washed it in one of the sinks of the kitchen.

"Do you think that we were too hard on her, Teresa?" Romano asked. "Perhaps we should let Izumi go on that camping trip of theirs," he suggested.

"Don't even think about it, Romano!" Teresa replied. "We spoiled Izumi too much as it is already. It's always shopping, school clubs, and playing with her friends! We're trying to wean her of all that pampering. That girl needs to understand the value of hard work, and the last thing she'll need is another excuse to hang out with that boy!"

"Yes, but you can't deny the main reason is because you're afraid for her," Romano pointed out. "What with Officer Kanbara and his team on this big case, it's too dangerous for anyone of us to venture past our doors alone at night."

"I don't want the same thing to happen to her, Romano!" Teresa exclaimed. "Don't you know how horrible it was to find Rinaldo lying out there on the cold ground and not breathing?" She covered her flustered tears with both hands and gasped at the horrible memory. "I can't bear it. I think I shall go mad if the same thing should happen to our baby girl."

Romano sighed. "But to lock Izumi-chan up even in during daylight?" he questioned her.

"A small price to pay for our daughter's safety," Teresa said, whipping away her tears.

"Izumi is a rebellious girl, you know, Teresa. She's not afraid to speak her own mind and when she see something wrong, she'll fight for it….she's just like you when you were little," Romano reminded her.

"Well, she's going to have to get used to being wrong once in a while," Teresa replied simply. "I'm doing this for her own good, Romano. I'll keep her in this restaurant where we can keep an eye on her and where she'll learn some responsibilities."

Romano shook his head and poured himself and his wife a glass of vodka each. "Do as you wish, dear," he sighed. "But lwhen our problems are settled, you're going to have to release her."

* * *

Izumi didn't know how long she had lie in her bed crying. She must have dozed off but for how long? Izumi turned to the little pink and purple alarm clock on her bed stand and saw it read eleven at night. An hour had passed already?

Izumi snorted angrily at herself and threw one of her pillows across the room. She was clearly still frustrated about what her parents had told her earlier. Just the thought about it brought tears to her eyes again. Urgh! How could they do this to her? How could her parents have just decided to blame Takuya for being a bad influence on her? Sure sometimes he had caused a few accidents here and there but he had never meant to break the windows and the fish tank, and Enrico didn't press charges against him for landing him in the hospital!

No, Takuya may jump ahead into things recklessly but Izumi could tell that her friend has a good heart. Hey parents are wrong and there is no way she's going to listen to them. Izumi buried her face into one of her pillows, wanting so much to scream. But just as she was about to, she caught something at the corner of her eyes.

Izumi looked up and saw something glowing. It was coming from the bag where she had bought her copy of Kaze's signed novel just yesterday. Has it already been yesterday? It felt more like months considering all the things that had happened. Brushing that thought aside quickly, Izumi slowly got up and approached the book bag cautiously. But then she stopped.

_What am I doing? _Izumi questioned herself. _It's probably just the screen of my mobile phone or my dPod MP3 player! _But just as she was about to open the flap, the light inside shined even brighter. It startled the Italian-Japanese girl so much that she fell back a few steps. _That was definitely not my cell phone! _Izumi thought as the glow of the light dimmed a bit.

Again, Izumi cautiously got up and moved closer to her book bag. She gulped and took a quick peek inside and once she realized what it really was, Izumi sighed in relief. Taking out the two copies of her signed _Spiritual-HoLic _books, Izumi brought the book bag to her bed and dumped the glowing contents on the blanket. What were they?

The four silver and gold bracelets that Kaze had given her the night before.

Izumi tried to think back to last night and what Kaze and told them. These things can track the bearers of the Galis Star and it was her job to look for these people. But Izumi knew that she can't do it alone. She'll need Takuya's help and that's another good reason why she can't stay away from him. They're in this together but at the moment, Izumi pondered what to do.

She looked down at the four bracelets again, but realized that only one of them is glowing. What does that mean? Could it be that a bearer of the Galis Star is nearby? Izumi raced to her window, hoping to see someone, but the streets are just full of cars and people who are going about in their night shifts. Plus, the bracelet is dimming its glow and Izumi was afraid that it was going to go out. But then it shone brightly again. Izumi gasped and drew her curtains closed, not wanting anyone to realize that there is a miniature star shining in her room.

Izumi quickly stuffed the glowing bracelet under her bed and picked up her cell phone. Checking to make sure that her parents are asleep, Izumi pressed the speed dial for Takuya's number.

It rang about three times before a familiar voice spoke through the other end of the line.

"Hello, Izumi?" Takuya said rather a bit cheerfully. "Hey, what's up?"

_Oh, if only he knew the ordeal that I'm in! _Izumi thought miserable. If Takuya knew that she can't see him for a while, would he still be cheerful just for her sake?

"Takuya…" Izumi said and realized too late that her voice broke because she had been crying for a while. She sniffed and tried to rub her eyes dry.

"Izumi, what's wrong?" Takuya asked gently with concern in his voice. Oh, how the sound of his voice made Izumi felt as if he was holding her in his arms! Izumi realized what she was musing about and blushed furiously and shook the thought away before she spoke again in a quiet voice.

"Takuya…" she repeated… "It's glowing…"

"W-wait! What?" Takuya stuttered, clearly confused. "What are you talking about? What's glowing?"

"The bracelet!" Izumi gasped. "One of the bracelets that Kaze-sama gave to me yesterday, Takuya! One of them is glowing! I thought that it was my cell phone screen or my MP3 player but it wasn't. It was one of those magical bracelets that Kaze-sama gave me so that we can use them to find the bearers of the Galis Star and give it to them so that Dusk won't rip it out of their bodies and—"

"Wait, Izumi!" Takuya stopped her. "You're talking too fast! Slow down! You're saying a bracelet is _glowing_?"

Izumi nodded and took a deep breath. "Yes, it's glowing, Takuya-kun," Izumi repeated patiently. "One of the four bracelets is glowing. I put it under my pillow so that people outside the streets won't notice. But Takuya, I think it has found a piece of the Galis Star!"

"You're kidding!" Takuya said. He realized that the door to his father's study was opened and sighed. The last thing he wanted was to have his little brother eavesdropping on his conversation. "Hold on a sec, Izumi," he said and shut the door, looking himself in. "Okay, let's talk. You really think that a Galis Star bearer is there near your house?"

"I'm not sure," she said. "That's what I thought at first and I checked the street outside. But there are still a lot of people passing by. I don't know if it's one of them."

"Okay, so did you noticed anything strange about someone in the crowd?" Takuya asked, remember what Kaze advised to do. In order to spot a Galis Star bearer, they must keep their eyes open.

"No, I didn't," Izumi replied shamefully. "But when I tried, the bracelet dimmed its light and I thought that it was going to go out. But then suddenly it shines even brighter again, but it was only for a few seconds."

"And people didn't noticed?" Takuya asked.

"No, I shut the curtains," Izumi said. She walked towards the window and took a quick peek outside. "Everybody just kept going about with their night shifts. Nobody stopped to bother."

"So everyone just kept going?" Takuya asked, making sure.

"I'm sorry, Takuya," Izumi sniffed, "I think I let a Galis Star bearer got away. I didn't know which one of the people walking outside it was."

"Wait, Izumi," Takuya spoke up. "I just had a thought. What if the bracelet wasn't glowing because it sensed a bearer?"

Izumi frowned. "I don't understand what you're trying to say," she said.

"Well, what I'm trying to say is what if the bracelet was glowing because it sensed a bearer using his or her gift?" Takuya explained patiently.

Izumi nodded, seeing what he was getting at. "It is possible…"

"Hey, I got an idea," Takuya said," "why don't we drop by Kaze's place tomorrow and ask her about it? I can pick you up at your place tomorrow!"

Izumi chocked as she felt tears coming in her eyes again. "I-I-I don't think that's possible, Takuya."

"What? Why not?" Takuya asked. "You want to sleep in or something? Because if you are, then I could drop by at a later time."

"N-no, that's not it," Izumi said. Her voice was quivering again. "I'm afraid that it's not possible for you to come here again."

"Don't tell me that you're gonna be out of town tomorrow!" Takuya laughed, unaware what his friend was about to say. "Because may I remind you that we also have to drop by Kyochi's place and tell his sister that we really want her to be in our gang. Oh, and it was also you idea to begin—"

"Takuya, I can't see you anymore!" Izumi blurted. She was afraid of how he'll react after he was silent for a moment. "Takuya?"

"Wait…you're joking right?" Takuya asked, laughing. But Izumi knew that he was getting nervous himself. "Tell me you're joking."

"I wished that I am, Takuya," Izumi sniffed, rubbing her teary eyes. "But I'm afraid it's no joke. I got in trouble with my parents and they think that you're…" Izumi stopped and thought to herself. Perhaps it was best that he doesn't hear it. "…they think that you shouldn't come here because they don't want me to go out with you and the others."

"Why? Are they crazy?" Takuya asked.

"No, they afraid, Takuya. It's because of all of these murders that Dusk committed. You saw how freaked out my mom was today. And after that earthquake, she doesn't want me to leave here sight."

"So your parents are going in over-protective mode and now you're under house arrest?" Takuya balked. "Izumi, that's just crazy! Listen, the others and I are gonna drop by anyway to see you whether they like it or not. We'll convince your parents that they're overdoing it, Izumi."

"I don't think it'll be that easy, Takuya," Izumi replied sadly. "I think this how bloody nightmare thing with that vampire and Ami and the others are becoming too much for them. Especially my mom. She'll do whatever it takes to keep me here."

There was a paused and Izumi was about to say good-bye when Takuya said something that she had never expected before.

"If that's the case, then I'll do whatever it takes to get you out, Izumi."

Izumi silently gasped. The words surprised her too much that she didn't know what to say. But it made her feel hopeful and happy inside and for that she knew she was grateful to Takuya. "Thanks, Takuya," she smiled, whipping away the last of her tears that night. "Thanks a lot. I mean it, Takuya. I really do."

* * *

A couple of city districts away, Yutaka's girlfriend, Yumi Tanaka, was fuming over a cold glass of vermouth. After her conversation with her sister on the phone, Yumi was just too furious to go straight home. Instead, she stopped by a small disco club that's open twenty-four hours a few days a week. There were still several people dancing under the blinding colorful and flashing lights. The rhythm of the pounding music didn't bother Yumi as she slammed her glass on the table.

"Give me another shot!" she ordered the bartender.

"Don't you think you'd had enough?" the bartender suggested politely. "It's not healthy to brood over a small matter with alcohol."

"I didn't ask for your advice," Yumi snapped rudely. "Another shot!"

The bartender nodded and sighed and poured her half a glass of vermouth. "This is the last one. I'm sorry, but you drank both of our last bottles of vermouth tonight."

Yumi snorted angrily and didn't bother to acknowledge two guys around Yutaka's age who stood behind her grinning.

"Hey, little lady," said the one with black hair. "You digging the scene?"

"Wanna join us on the dance floor?" said his friend, grinning widely. "You don't wanna waste your evening at the bar, do ya? C'mon! Join the fun!"

Yumi hiccupped drunkenly and glared at them coldly. "Shove off, losers."

"Ah, don't be like that missy," one laughed and he grabbed her arm. "C'mon, baby. Dance with us and we'll buy you another shot later!"

"I said shove off!" Yumi snapped and yanked her arm out of his reach. With her other arm, she slapped him with the back of her hand so hard that he stumbled back a few paces.

"Hey, watch it lady!" said the second guy as he was about to grab both of her arms. Yumi didn't wince. Instead, she grabbed her glass of vermouth and splashed it into his face. Automatically, the guy screamed and tried to wipe his face clean but Yumi too her chance and tripped him with her high heels.

"Pathetic," she growled, reaching into her purse to pay for the vermouth. "You men disgust me!" She spat and made her way out the back door.

Yumi didn't know how long or how far she went. She was just too drunk and too angry to even care. Suddenly, she came to a lonely street. She looked around and realized that she was almost at her boyfriend's house. She was about to continue walking when she fell and scraped her palms on the asphalt.

"Damn it," she cursed. She looked at one of her shoes and realized that the stiletto under the heel snapped. "What a rotten day!" she vented, throwing her broken high heel to the ground in frustration. "This cannot get any worse!"

"Actually, it's about to for you."

Yumi jumped from the sound of the voice and turned around to see a boy standing in the shadows. "What do you want?" she glared. "Don't you know it's rude to stare? Get lost you little brat!"

The boy smirked and snapped his fingers and the light bulbs from the street lights around them shattered, plunging the scene into darkness.

"How did you?" Yumi stammered as she tried to get up. The boy grabbed her and instinct kicked in. Yumi slapped him across the face with her manicured nails. It left three red marks across his face. The boy glared at her and his eyes glowed red with fury.

"That," he said, "was not wise." He slapped her, sending her flying several yards across the ground. Immediately, Yumi knew that she had to get out of here but she when she was about to dash, her ankles got caught by vines that had spontaneously sprouted from the ground.

"Did you really think that you'll get away after that?" Dusk smirked but somehow or another, Yumi managed to free one of her legs and kicked him viciously in the stomach. He gasped and then she kicked his face, digging her high heel shoe into his cheek.

Dusk felt a trickle of blood running down his face and realized that the cut was pretty ugly. Furiously, he punched her before binding her limps with his newfound powers over vegetations again. Rather than his usual discreet style of murder, Dusk decided to change his tactic just this once. This bitch needed a lesson in manners.

The vines muffled Yumi's scream if she realized what was about to happen. Dusk smirked and pulled out something from his coat. "You're the first meal that I had in years that really fought back," he said coolly, flicking the object and Yumi realized that it was a knife. "Although I'm impressed with your resistance, I can't forgive you for giving me a hard time."

Yumi did not have enough time to scream as Dusk plunged the knife into her chest.

* * *

"I can't believe you just said that," said Kouichi, watching his brother from across the room. After their discussion with Gali and Kaze, the two women left them alone and went outside to talk, leaving them alone with their Guardian Knights.

"What do you mean?" Kouji asked, not bothering to look up. This irritated his twin a bit.

"I can't believe you told Gali-sama that Kimi is nothing more than someone we have to look out for!" Kouichi pointed out. "For a moment, I'd thought…"

Kouji cut him off. "You thought what?" he challenged. "You thought that I was falling for her? I can't, okay?"

"Why?" Kouichi demanded. "I saw they way you held her in your arms…the way you looked at her…are those nothing to you at all?"

"Hey, we were all caught in the excitement, okay?" Kouji retorted. He squeezed his tea cup, leaving marks on his own palms done by his fingernails but it didn't matter. "I was only saving her because it was the right thing to do."

Kouichi sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "Then tell me why, Kouji," he said. "Why did you run after her when she was leaving?"

"I told you already!" Kouji insisted. "I was worried about her because she was sad. It's nothing major at all. Just let it go, Kouichi." He scowled and lean back against a cushion with his arms crossed behind his head. He didn't need to watch to know that his brother sighed and dropped the subject.

_I can't do it,_ Kouji thought to himself. _I can't tell Nii-san the truth. I can't tell him that I already like someone else. No, not yet._

He drank the rest of his tea and sighed, looking to his left. Lobo was resting his head and gave him a somber looked. His brother on the hand, was having his back turned to him while stroking Löwe's fur as he continued to sleep the pain away. Without a word, Kouichi picked up his cat and placed him on a cushion next to him and pour himself another cup of tea.

Kouji sat up and was about to apologize to him when suddenly, he felt light-headed. Clasping his face, he realized that his eyes were getting heavy. _What's happening?_ He asked himself. Kouji noticed that his brother was leaning over as well. It felt as if darkness is calling them and with their minds slipping away, it wasn't long until both brothers were unconscious.

Gali and Kaze came into the room and looked around to see both boys fast asleep. The sleeping herb that was added in the tea had worked once again…just as it had with Takuya and Izumi. With a raised hand, Kaze summoned a magical soft wind, teleporting them back into their rooms.

"I'll leave them to you know, Lobo," said Gali.

Lobo nodded as all four companies disappeared, leaving nothing but seat cushions and a tea set on a table. Later that night, Kouji was dreaming again…

* * *

"_Kouji, you came!" said the girl as Kouji came running up to her at the park. He noticed that she was wearing a simpler dress as if it was meant for more physical activities. But more curiously than that was her position. She was standing in front of one of the bushes with an eager smile on her face._

"_Hey, what's up, –chi," said Kouji._

"_I'm fine," said –chi. She smiled when he gave her another rice-dumpling._

_Biting into one himself, Kouji looked at her and said, "So what is it that you wanted to show me, –chi?"_

"_You promise that you won't tell?" –chi asked a bit nervously. "It's kinda of a secret from my family. I haven't shown them what I found, so you're the first person who would know."_

_Kouji didn't answer, but he nodded._

–_chi turned around and bent closer to the bush. With one hand, she opened a patch and the other to gesture to Kouji to lean in closer. Kouji did just that and suddenly, he heard something: a little chirp._

"_It's a sparrow!" he gasped._

_Sure enough, a little, brown sparrow chirped in response as it looked up at the two human children with its beady little eyes that were black as ink. But it wasn't flying away and Kouji saw why after a closer look._

"_It has a broken wing," he said. He looked at –chi curiously. "What happened?"_

"_It smashed itself into my window two days ago and broke its wing," said –chi. "I've been taking care of it since. Do you think it can fly again, Kouji-kun?"_

_Kouji studied the bird quietly and broke a piece of his rice ball and gave it to the bird. The little sparrow pecked at the food greedily and Kouji smirked. "I think it'll be fine. It's eating enough. Maybe that means that it is doing well."_

"_I hope so," said –chi. "I can't show it to my family. They'll think it's a dirty stray and they'll make me abandon it."_

"_I know a vet who lives near my place," suggested Kouji. "We could take it to his place tomorrow and ask him."_

–_chi looked up at him with great hopes in her eyes. "Really? Do you think he can help?"_

"_Sure, I'm sure!" Kouji replied proudly. "I'll prove it to you, c'mon!" Kouji made a grab for her hand and with the other he picked up the little sparrow and gave it to her. She quickly wrapped it gently in her sleeves and Kouji dragged her along all the way from the park to small clinic._

"_Well, if it isn't Kouji-kun!" Said the vet, Dr. Suzaki, as soon as he heard the door bell. "What brings you here?" He noticed that the boy was accompanied by a cute little girl in a dress and smiled. "And who's your little friend?"_

_Kouji's friend hesitated as she was too shy to speak. This caused the vet to look at her kindly. "What's your family's name? Are they from around here?"_

_The girl nodded and said something that sounded like, "Kinomoto, huh?" the vet asked. The girl nodded. "Well, then…what can I do for you?"_

_The Kinomoto girl loosened her sleeves and showed the man her sparrow. "Will it be okay?" she asked. "I'm afraid my bandage isn't good enough."_

_The little sparrow chirped quietly in her hands as the vet scrutinized it. He gently picked it up and placed it on the table to inspect its broken wings even further. He turned to the children and smiled, "Why don't you sit down over there and I'll take care of your sparrow. It won' take long."_

_Sure enough, it didn't take long for the vet to give the two kids back their sparrow. It was placed in a shoebox with soft hand towels and a few bowls of water and bird seeds. The little sparrow itself was sleeping as it snuggled itself in a comfortable position. Its broken wing was more properly mended with brand new bandages wrapped neatly around the feathers._

"_Will it be better now?" asked –chi. While Kouji was holding the shoebox steady, she bent in and stroked the sparrow gently. It stirred but it did not wake._

"_It'll be fine," the vet assured her. "If you give it proper care, it'll be able to fly again in a few weeks."_

–_chi smiled with satisfaction, happy that her little friend was going to be alright. Kouji looked at the vet and asked, "You're not going to tell my dad about this, are you?"_

_The vet was taken aback. "Now why would you want to keep it a secret, Kouji-kun?"_

"_It's me, actually," –chi spoke up. "I don't want anyone in my family to know about this sparrow. They might make me get rid of it before it can fly. And if someone else finds out, they might tell my family!"_

_The vet saw the connection and agreed not to tell. Satisfied, –chi pulled out whatever few changes of money she had and paid him and both she and Kouji left with the sparrow sleeping away in its shoebox. _

"_I can't take it home with me," the girl said sadly. "What are we going to do?" Kouji thought about it and knew that she was right._

_They passed by their park again and Kouji was suddenly struck with an idea. "How about here?" he suggested pointing to the bushes and the trees surrounding the playground. "We can hide your sparrow in the bushes where no one will ever find it."_

_The girl seems reluctant. "I don't know Kouji. What about the cats?"_

"_We'll leave it in the shoebox. It has holes for it to breathe, and look—" Kouji pointed to a tree and dragged her along. "See? There's even an old bird nest in here! We can keep the sparrow safe in here and not even a cat can get it."_

_The Kinomoto girl smiled and handed him the box. They opened the lid to see how their sparrow was doing. For now, it was still sleeping quietly, its wings tucked in neatly. Kouji blew at it gently and the sparrow woke up and blinked at its two saviors curiously before falling back to sleep._

"_What should we name it?" the Kinomoto girl asked._

_Kouji thought about it for a moment before answering, "How about Tanpopo?"_

–_chi laughed. "That's a funny name, but I like it." She thought about something and looked at Kouji. "Will you help me take care of Tanpopo-chan until he's better?"_

_Kouji smiled and closed the lid of the box before hiding it in the tree. "Even better. I'll help it learn how to fly again."_

–_chi giggled. "We can't fly, but I want to be like Tanpopo-chan."_

_Kouji looked at her curiously. "You mean you want to fly?"_

–_chi nodded. "You bet! I wanna fly up so high and so far away that not even all my problems can pull me down!"_

_They both broke into a fit of laughter but then hushed themselves for fear of waking up their sparrow._

"_I'll bring some extra birdseeds tomorrow," Kouji said._

"_And I'll bring some more water and towels," –chi added. "I don't want Tanpopo-chan to be cold. And he should have enough to eat with your help!"_

"_Did you just realize something?" Kouji asked._

–_chi nodded. "Yeah. For a moment there, we…"_

"…_sounded like parents?" Kouji laughed, finishing her sentence before grabbing her hand and dragged her to the swings._

_They had once played like friends…took care of their sparrow like parents…_

* * *

…and was happy before things took a turn for the worst…

…Kouji didn't know what happened next when he suddenly woke up in his room. He looked around and found his brother sleeping and both of their Guardian Knights dreaming. Kouji sighed and looked up at the ceiling and remembered a bit of his childhood friend's name…

A name with the suffix –chi who have relatives named the Kishimoto…

And suddenly, a thought struck Kouji… "She's not Kimi…is she?"

To be continue...

**Author's note: Sorry it took so long for me to update the next chapter. I'm kinda going through another family crisis and I'm currently on hiatus. I'll try to get the next chapter up before Christmas.**


	30. Photographic Evidence

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter 29: Photographic Evidence**

"Inspector Megure!" said Officer Wateru Takagi walking up to his boss. "Officer Kanbara is here."

The fat man turned to face him and Hiroaki who had just arrived at the scene of the crime his crew was inspecting. "Ah, Kanbara-kun, you've made it."

"Who is it this time, Inspector?" asked Takuya's father as we walked over to the corpse. From the phone call he got earlier, he only got a quick description from Sato-san who told him that the scene was bloody and brutal. Hiroaki saw the body and a cold shiver went to down his spine. Sato-san was bending down to look at the victim's swollen ankles and didn't notice him until he came closer.

"Oh, Kanbara-kun," she said getting up. "Her name was Yumi Tanaka. Twenty-three year old, a student at Tokyo University who was about to graduate in a few months. The cause of death is from the knife stab into the chest."

"A quick thrust into the heart. Brutal, indeed," Hiroaki agreed, shaking his head at the cruelty. "What about witnesses? None as usual?"

"Yes, although there were none to witness the murder, there was some who had witness Yumi at a local bar down the street."

"Did the Inspector have them questioned?" Hiroaki asked.

Sato nodded and pointed to a few men being questioned by Officer Shiratori. "They said that the victim appeared to be frustrated and wanted to get drunk at the bar. Whatever was bothering Yumi, she decided it was a good idea to get drunk before getting into a squabble with those men over there."

"After that she left before things could get worse and she was in a foul mood according to the bartender," Takagi added, checking his notes. "The time between her departure from the late night club to here was only a few minutes. She was later attacked by someone…" Takagi paused, "…or _something_…and was left for dead. The coroners stated it was almost the same as the previous cases, except this time there was a knife wound to the heart."

"So she's also drained of blood but it's not from the stabbing?" Hiroaki asked. Takagi nodded grimly and glanced at some of the scattered broken glasses from the nearby street lamps. "What about her friends and family?" Hiroaki asked his colleagues. "Any relations? Have we contacted them yet?"

"No, I was about to when I had to call you first," Sato said.

"I've checked with Chiba-kun," Takagi said, mentioning their fat colleague who tends to eat a lot whenever he gets the chance. "He said that the late Yumi had a sister named Sakura Tanaka, a young woman who's currently hired to be a private maid to Dr. Watsuki's household."

"Fine, I'll contact Tanaka-san and tell her the news," said Takuya's father, taking out his cell phone. One would think that he'd be sick of being the bearer of bad news to the countless murdered victims' families but he had gotten used to it for so long that he couldn't afford to luxury of sharing in their grief. "Give me her contact number, Takagi. Any other relation I should inform as well?"

"Yeah, it turns out that Yumi was dating a fellow college student who goes to the same university as her," Tagaki went through his notes. "His name is Himi."

Takuya's dad looked up in surprise at his friend and blinked at the familiar surname. "Not Yutaka Himi, is it?"

Now it was Takagi's turn to looked surprise. "Yes, how'd you know?"

Hiroaki shook his head and dialed the digits without bothering to ask Takagi for the Himi's phone number. "My son knows his brother."

* * *

"What do you mean she's not coming home?"

A few hours earlier, the Duke of Lusteria was pacing back and forth in his studies furiously. George and Josh, the two men who was ordered to protect his daughter, were being severely punished by helping the lower kitchen staffs clean and wash the dishes as well as the kitchen. They would lose sleep but at least they wouldn't lose their jobs.

"I'm afraid that your concern for the princess going on her excursion in the city had caused more harm than good," said the Duke's personal butler.

"She's a princess who needs protection at all time, Harrison!" Lord James snapped but his butler was unaffected by his rage. "If I had known she was going to get hurt I would have sent for more bodyguards!"

"That would have made things worse, Jimmy," said Harrison, using the Duke's childhood nickname. Having served the royal family long enough, Harrison was liked a second father to Lord James. "People would suspect who she is and that would have put her in more dangers."

The Duke shook his head furiously. "She's hurt, Harrison! You know much as well as I do that Kimi is afraid of blood! She must be traumatized by now. How can I keep an eye on her when she's clearly distraught?"

"She was in good hands, Sire," Harrison pointed out. "And she still is. She's staying at Kyochi's home after all."

"That boy can't keep her contained," his master insisted. "He's too busy with his medical studies to watch her properly."

Harrison sighed to himself. Although the princess had found a new brother to love and accept, the Duke could not see Kyochi as a son to him. Their relationship is far and strained but on behalf of his daughter, the Duke allowed the boy to be welcome and treated like a Lusterian prince whenever he visits the manor. Harrison, the staff, and even Lady Ren enjoyed the Kyochi's company so much that they began to think of him like a gift that Kimi's late older brother, Prince Alan, had left behind in his absence.

"I shall send my guards to fetch my daughter this instant," the Duke mumbled to himself.

"Sire, please," Harrison insisted firmly like a father scolding his child. "You must learn to give the princess some peace and time alone especially away from this manor!"

"But she needs me, Harrison," the Duke protested.

"The more you try to protect her, the farther away she'll try to get away from you," Harrison pointed out. "She's almost sixteen and already she had grown into a very beautiful young woman."

The Duke scowled in frustration as he sank into his armchair, his face buried in his hands. "Why are you telling me this, Harrison? What am I doing wrong? Haven't I been a good farther to my remaining child since my son's death? Haven't I given her everything she could possibly want?"

"If you think giving her an endless supply of jewelry, clothes, and fine dining then you have been living under an illusion still," said a soft voice.

Both the Duke and Harrison turned to see the Duchess standing by the doorway still in her bed robes. Lady Ren appeared weaker and more exhausted than before.

"Your Highness!" Harrison cried.

"Ren!" The Duke exclaimed, getting up from his seat and he ran over to his wife. "You shouldn't be out of bed! What are you doing up so late?"

"My little girl hasn't been to see me," Ren breathed faintly, her cheeks flushed hotly as sweats ran down her face. "I went to her room and when I realized that she's not in her bed as she should. So I've came to see you."

Lord James's face went pale. "H-how much have you heard?"

"Nearly enough…"

"My lady, please, you should sit down," Harrison insisted, guiding her to an armchair in the corner. He placed a hand over her forehead and realized that her temperature had gone up. "I must inform the nurse," he said as he ran out of the studies.

Lord James sat next to his wife and took her hand as he held her close. He could feel the Duchess' sickness rising against his skin.

"So our little girl is staying at Kyochi-kun's place, isn't she?" Ren asked.

Her husband nodded.

Ren smiled weakly. "So you've finally managed to drive our daughter away. I knew she wouldn't want to come back here."

"Ren, tell me," The Duke whispered in her ears sadly. "What did you mean earlier by illusion? I thought I'd given Kimi everything she wanted. She'd never had any problems with us before…" he paused.

"…before Alan died," Ren finished. "Kimi no longer cares for the finer things in life, Jimmy. In fact, she'd barely take interest in those ever since she was little. She's our little dragon, Jimmy," she turned to face her husband seriously. "You can't contain a dragon in its cage, dear. Sooner or later, it will grow too big and too wild for you to control."

"I don't understand," the Duke shook his head.

"What Lady Ren is trying to say is, Sire, is that Princess Kimberly desired freedom," said Harrison, returning with a nurse who rushed over to assist the Duchess.

"This estate is like a prison to her, James," said Lady Ren as the nurse gave her some wet towels and pills with a glass of water. "She felt trap behind those gates since we've come here."

"She's a princess, Ren," Lord James insisted. "A princess can't go walking around unattended. None of us can go walking around the streets without our guards. We are not regular people."

"You're right, James," Lady Ren replied sadly. The nurse had brought in a wheelchair and helped her into it as she readied herself to push the Duchess back to her chamber. "Kimi is a Lusterian Princess now but only because we've adopted her. You forget that she's also just a girl."

"Lady Ren is right, Sire," Harrison added. "Even you yourself wanted to be a regular boy once. Let the princess stay with her twin for awhile. Besides, she's only posing as Kimi _Watsuki_, not _Clairebourne_."

The Duke stood there without saying anything at first. Then with a big sigh he sank down on his knees in front of his wife and took her hand as if he was about to propose his undying love to her again. "Fine, I'll do what you want for now, love."

Lady Ren smiled sadly as she gently stroked her husband hair. "She'll come back to us when she wants to, don't worry."

"Shall I phone The Minamoto residence?" Harrison asked.

Lady Ren turned to him and nodded. "Yes, send that Kouji boy my gratitude. If it hadn't been for him, who knows what could have happened to Kimi during that earthquake."

* * *

Kimi woke up the next morning to see the house somewhat empty. Her biological mother hadn't come home last night and was still working at the hospital. The only person was Kyochi who was in the kitchen making breakfast.

Kyochi felt his sister's gaze and turned to her. "Morning, sis," he smiled. "Feeling better?"

"Whatever," Kimi replied rudely as she took a seat and watched him frying their eggs.

Kyochi smiled to himself. At least she had said something to him so that was better than her ignoring him. He noticed that both of their eggs were done and flipped them onto two dishes with a spatula. Sitting down to eat, Kyochi noticed his twin looking around the house.

"She left," Kyochi said as a matter of factly. Kimi gave him a puzzled look. "Sakura-san. She left in the middle of the night while you were sleeping."

"Why?" Kimi asked, poking her the yolk of her egg with a piece of bread. It burst and oozed out yellow slime.

"She got a phone call from the police," Kyochi said grimly. "Apparently something terrible had happened to her sister. Mom called this morning and told me why."

"She's not coming back here, is she?" Kimi asked.

Kyochi sighed sadly. He didn't know Yumi Tanaka that much but it pains him to see hear that someone who is related to a family friend was killed.

"Not for awhile," Kyochi sighed. "We'll probably have to call in a temporary replacement for now."

"I don't need a baby-sitter," Kimi snorted at the idea of having another house maid.

"No, but this house does," Kyochi said. He looked down at his half finished plate and sighed. "You know, Mom told me to take a day off for now. Do you want to go out with me today?"

Kimi didn't answer him because she is still furious about what had happened yesterday so he took it as a no and started to clean the plates.

* * *

When Kouichi woke up the next morning, he found his brother already up. Groggily, the older twin rubbed his sleepy eyes away and yawned.

"Morning, Kouji," Kouichi said. His brother gave a quick reply before returning to whatever he was doing. Kouichi noticed that his twin was sitting on the carpet in front of the closet rummaging through a few old boxes. Lobo sat by observing while Löwe sat on top of a stack of shoe boxes that were already rummaged through before. After getting his ribs healed from the two witches, Kouichi's Guardian Knight have decided to rest and take it easy.

"Kouji, what are you doing?" Kouichi asked. He picked up one of the shoe boxes to find a few stacks of photos. Some of them were copies of what he had already seen before and they mostly consisted of photos of Kouji as a child growing up with several classmates from al the grade schools he had attended.

"I'm looking for the photo of me and Chi," Kouji said.

Kouichi gave him a blank look. "Who?"

"His childhood love interest from his recent dreams," Lobo stated.

"Her name is Chi?" Kouichi asked, flipping through the stacks of old photos in his hands.

"No, that's last syllable of her first name or at least that's what I remembered from last night's dream," said Kouji, throwing another shoe box aside and started on the next.

"Do you even remember her last name?"

"Yeah, most likely that it was Kishimoto," said Kouji. "It's pretty clear that she's not Kimi."

Kouichi sighed. _Another complication_, he thought.

"I just remembered that there was a picture of both of us together at the park. I'd never shown it to Dad or anyone before," said Kouji. "I hid it in one of these boxes years ago after we moved. Dad never looked at them anymore."

"Did your dreams tell you what she looked like?" Lobo asked.

"She always wore some kinda of girly-frilly dress whenever she came to play with a few ribbons in her hair," Kouji replied getting more and more frustrated when the shoe box that he's currently looking through doesn't reveal the one photo he's looking for.

"Still not much to go for, huh?" Lobo smirked. "Are you even sure this photo still exist or have ever existed? What if it's a figment of your imagination conjured up by your dreams?"

Kouji glared daggers at him. "Are you saying that I'm making her up?"

"No, I'm doubting whether or not if the _photo_ of you and her exist, not the girl herself," Lobo stated.

"No, the photo exist all right," Löwe intervened before Kouji could get defensive again. "Kouichi just-kun just found it."

At the sound of this, Kouji ran over to his brother to examine the photo in his hand. He had been right, it was hidden among one of the many stacks of photos from his childhood. Excited, he snatched the old photo out of his brother's hand.

"It's her!" He exclaimed as all four of them digested what they're seeing.

The content of the photo consisted of two children, one boy and one girl, smiling at the camera. The girl was definitely wearing a white frilly dress with her dark hair tied up in a pony-tail. She was sitting on a swing and the little boy who couldn't be anyone other than Kouji himself standing next to her with one hand hanging on to the chains of the swing. After a looking at her close enough, Kouichi noticed something.

"She does have some of the same featured as Kimi and Kyochi," he pointed out.

Kouji looked at his brother in surprise. "I'd never noticed that until now. No wonder being around Kimi reminded me of Chi."

"So…" Löwe began. "Now that you've found the photo, how are you going to find her?"

Kouji had no answer to that yet, but he swore to himself that he'll find her whatever it takes.

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long update. I was busy for the past few weeks. I'll stop the chapter here for now because I want to dedicate the next one to Takuya and Izumi a bit more. Again, a crossover with the characters from _Detective Conan_.**


	31. Cousins

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter 30: Cousins**

After Dusk left the scene of the crime, he quickly got rid of any physical evidences that would lead the police back to his new host. Even though Dusk was always a few steps ahead of them, he still couldn't risk having them knocking on the Ichijouji family's door.

He stopped by a river near his host's apartment and discarded his bloody jacket into the water.

"Ken? Is that you? What are you doing?" said a voice behind Dusk. He turned around to see a boy wearing a pair of goggles and he was giving him an odd look. Behind him emerged an older boy and a girl. Digging through his host's memories, Dusk recognized the first boy as Daisuke and the other two as Taichi and his sister Hikari.

"Oh, it's you," said Dusk through Ken's voice. "What do you want?"

"Nothing," we were just passing by," Hikari replied, a little bit offended by his rudeness.

"At this hour?" Ken questioned. "Don't you realize that it's dangerous?"

"Why? Because of that mysterious serial killer we've been hearing on the news?" Daisuke challenged. "Speak for yourself, Ken. You're out here alone as well. And by the way, everyone knows it's safer to go in groups. So far the culprit only attacks the one who's stupid enough to go out on their own, right?" He turned to his two companions for support.

"Daisuke's right, Ken," Taichi stated seriously. "It's dangerous for you to be out here alone. You should come with us."

"Wait a minute, why are you even out here at this hour to begin with?" Daisuke asked. "And what did you throw overboard just now?"

"That's hardly any of your concern," Ken stated. "And what about you? Shouldn't you kids be in bed by now?"

"Gato-chan is sick, remember?" Hikari reminded him. "She got it from me a few days ago. We ran out of medicine so we went to pick some up because Miyako's family's store also sells medicines."

"Fine, whatever," Ken shrugged.

"What is it with you, man?" Daisuke asked, clearly annoyed. "You've been acting weird lately. What happen? Did you get kicked by a girl?"

Ken flinched because Daisuke had hit a home run. Upon a closer inspection, Hikari gasped. "Ken, you've been in a brawl?"

"That's none of your business, little girl," Ken stated, turning away from them.

"Hey, you can't talk to Hikari-chan like that!" Daisuke challenged.

"Hey, cool it all of you!" Taichi snapped at them. "Ken, were you in trouble? You should have called us. We're your friends, you know?"

"I don't need your help," Ken glared at him. "It's not of your concerns."

"It is when it involves you getting into a fight that could land you in a heap of trouble with the authorities," Taichi pointed out.

_Please,_ Ken thought as he smirked. _Those imbeciles are too wrapped up in their forensic investigation too much these days to be bothered by me._ Under his breath, he whispered, "I'm always several steps ahead of those humans for centuries, you fool!"

He coldly walked off. Daisuke was about to go after him when Taichi held him back. "Let him go," said Taichi. "There are other ways of handling this."

"What are you say? We can't let him get away with that!" Daisuke pointed out."Seriously, he's been acting weird for days and I'll be damn if I let him go down that road without understanding why first!"

"We've already confronted him and that didn't turn out so well, did it?" Taichi pointed out.

"I think I know what he just threw into the river," Hikari stated randomly. Both boys gave her a quizzical look. "One of them is what I'm saying, at least."

"Wait, what is it?" her brother asked.

Hikari turned to him with great concern in her eyes. Wrapping herself with her arms, but not from the chilled air, she closed her eyes as images filled her head. "I think…no…I _know_ it has something to do with that fight Ken just got himself into."

"Wait, so how is getting into a fist fight a bigger issue than we thought?" Daisuke asked.

Taichi shook his head. "I think it's more than that," he lectured. "I'm guessing Ken has finally gotten himself into something really deep and it's not good at all. And from the way he acted towards us means that he's trying to hide something and it's really serious," He turned to his sister and asked, "Hikari, tell us what you saw. What did you see?"

Hikari didn't answer him right away at first. Instead, she approached the spot where they found Ken just a moment before and looked into the dark, watery depth below. Although it was dark and there was nothing to see, Hikari knew how to deal with it. After all, is she not the Child of Light?

"I was right," she said suddenly, shuddering at the thought. "It's a knife."

"A knife?" Daisuke turned wide-eye. Suddenly, it all connected in his mind. "Don't…don't tell me Ken was…"

Taichi nodded seriously. "Yeah, I think Ken's getting himself into something dangerous. We should talk to Gennai about this. He'll have an idea on what to do."

* * *

Gali and Kaze had already sense Dusk's latest kill before they announced the news on the television set the next morning. What surprised them was when the news anchorwoman informing the brutal wound left by the murderer.

The Oracle was having her morning coffee while watching the news when Kaze called her. Surprisingly, it was over the phone this time.

"Did you foresee that?" Kaze asked over the phone from her house.

"No, I didn't expect Dusk to leave something more than a bite mark behind this time," Gali said. "I don't think any one of us had expected the victim to actually resisted him before."

"I don't understand it," Kaze replied. "Dusk usually can control his chosen victim easily before he kills them with a spell. Yet, this time, one of them was able to resist him."

"I believe it's because Yumi Tanaka was _drinking_ before Dusk arrived at the scene," Gali reasoned. "Dusk never had any problems hypnotizing his victims before, but none of them were drunk before."

"So by drinking to relieve herself from her personal problems, Yumi actually created an immunity for herself towards Dusk's enticing hypnotism."

Gali nodded and began to ponder. "Strange. Alcohol does have its uses against Dusk in its own way, but it could not protect Yumi completely from his brutality."

Suddenly, Gali felt something. Look towards the direction of her front door, Gali sighed and said, "It appears that I have a customer. Shall we discuss about our plans later?"

Kaze agreed and both women hung up the phone.

Gali went over to the front of her house and opened the door. Before her stood a man in a strange robe with a hood over his face. If anyone who walked pass the house, they would guess that the man is getting dress up in order to cosplay the wise-sage character from the _Galaxy Battles_ film genre. But that isn't really the case.

Gali smiled, amused to be visited by an old friend. Although she cannot see his face, she can see his intention and his kindness. "Gennai," she said, "I wasn't expecting to see you on my doorstep. What brought you here?"

"A matter of great importance, my lady," Gennai smiled, taking off his hood to reveal the face of a young man with brown hair.

"Of course," Gali nodded, gesturing for him to come in.

Both of them sat down in the kitchen and Gali offered Gennai some coffee to which he accepted graciously.

"You are here because Taichi-kun and his friends have asked for your help, am I right?" Gali guessed.

Gennai nodded. "Perceptive as always that you are," he said. "But yes, Taichi, Daisuke and everyone are very concerned. It has something to do with Ken-san."

Gali nodded, understanding his hint. "And what about you, Gennai?" Gali asked.

Gennai was taken aback by her question. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"What are your concerns with Ken Ichijouji?"

Gennai shook his head as he began to poor out his frustration. After all, how could he hide it from a woman who is practically beyond wisdom as she is beyond the average life of an Oracle of Delphi? "Taichi and his friends believed that Ken's problem is rooted from a psychological source, causing him to act cold and withdrawn from them these days more than usual. But their last night encounter with him has put them on edges. They saw him trying to get rid of something in the river and it was Hikari-chan who discovered what they were. One of them was a bloody knife. They are very concern that their friend has gotten himself involve in a murder attempt, but…" Gennai paused, unsure how he would continue. But he didn't have to since Gali decided to finish for him.

"You are concern that Ken-san has somehow gotten involve with a dark occult, am I right?" Gali asked, sipping her coffee.

Gennai nodded. "I haven't told the others about my thoughts on this for fear that they will act irrationally. But if I don't tell them anything then Daisuke or any one of them would take matters into their own hands."

"Tell them, then," Gali said stoically. Gennai's eyes widen.

"What?"

"Tell them the truth," Gali repeated. "Tell them that their friend Ken Ichijouji has been possessed by a dark entity. They are old enough to understand." When Gennai was about to object, Gali held up her hand to silence him. "This is not their first time dealing with something that is supernatural. They already showed us proof that they are more than capable of handling this together. They have unity and you know as much as I do that such thing can help them save Ken from the dark grips of this entity further."

Gennai sigh and nodded. "You're right, but may I ask what dark entity has possessed Ken-san?"

Gali told him Dusk's name and explained how Ken had fallen victim to be his temporary host. She then explained to him how she and Kaze had been working on their side by foiling Dusk's plan. But since Ken is a member of a group of kids under Gennai's protection, she cannot interfere directly.

After listening intently to his friend over coffee, Gennai sighed and shook his head. "If it's the same Dusk who had plotted with the Dark Masters four hundred years ago, I am afraid for Taichi and his friends. They will be dealing with a dark force of which they had never face before. It's simply too dangerous and risky for them."

"Nothing is ever easy, Gennai," Gali agreed. For a moment, she had an urge to tell him more about her brother's murder but decided against it. "But you and I both know that they can do it if it means risking their lives to save someone they care about. Their love for each other is just that strong."

"Right," Gennai said finally. "What must I do to help them?"

The Oracle stood up and went over to a shelf in the corner and pulled out an old antique music box. Blowing off the thin layer of dust, Gali smiled and gave it to Gennai. He opened it and took out eight pairs of necklace-liked tags with colorful crests already inserted in their individual cases. Gennai was profoundly speechless.

"But these are…"

"Tags and crests," Gali said. "They embodied the spirit and power of each of your protege's good traits; Courage, Friendship, Love, Sincerity, Knowledge, Reliability, Hope, and Light. Give them to Taichi and his friends and it will not only help them to make Ken banish Dusk from his mind and body, but they will also protect each and every one of them should the vampire tries to harm them. The representation of each crests are like poison to him."

But what about the other three?"

"Daisuke has enough power in his heart to share Taichi's courage and Yamato's understanding of friendship," Gali explained. "The same can go for Miyako for both love and sincerity and Iori for knowledge and reliability."

Gennai smiled and was about to thank her when he noticed something at the bottom of the music box. He reached in and pulled out a ninth crest with a lighter pinkish symbol. Gali noticed and smiled kindly before saying, "And Ken must take it upon himself that he still has enough kindness in his heart where none exists in Dusk. Kindness has always been there with him, Gennai and with that crest he might be able to realize it again."

* * *

"I don't know if this is such a good idea, Takuya," said Tomoki.

The next morning the boys had gotten together at the park. When Junpei noticed that Izumi wasn't coming, he and the others questioned Takuya. After he explained to them what Izumi told him on the phone the night before the others had confused looks on their faces. Wanting to get to the bottom of this, Takuya proposed that they all head over to the restaurant and try to talk some sense into Izumi's parents.

"I agree with Tomoki here," Junpei added. "If Izumi-chan's parents don't want her to hang out with us now, aren't we going to make things worse just by going there? For all we know, they might have banned us from the restaurant!"

"Don't tell me that I just heard that coming from you, Junpei," Takuya said, staring at his taller friend in shock. Junpei had always taken a liking to Izumi since they first met and had always tried his best to help her out in any ways that he could. "Seriously, don't you care about getting Izumi out of her parents' punishment?"

Insulted, Junpei gave him a critical glare. "Of course I care! But I am also worried that we might make things worse than it already is."

"How can it be worse?" Takuya laughed it off. "We just have to tell her parents if they could let Izumi come with us to help a friend."

"A friend? Who?" Tomoki asked, puzzled again.

"You know, Kouji's girlfriend! Kimi!" Takuya reminded him.

"She's not my girlfriend," Kouji snapped, clearly more annoyed this time.

Junpei turned to Kouji with a brow raised. "You know, you haven't said a word since this morning. What's up?"

"Nothing's wrong," Kouji said. "It's none of your business."

Junpei shrugged, taking it as another one of his friend's brooding. "Whatever."

Kouji was in his own thought as his friends continued their merry…bickering ways towards the Orimoto's restaurant. He kept both of his hands in his pockets, one of them brushing against the photo of his childhood sweetheart he'd found that morning. He already made up his mind: he was going to find her and he planned to start once he could escape from his friends and their cherry plan to go see Kimi. Kouji decided to avoid Kimi for now. Just thinking about her was starting to make him feel confuse, especially now that he's having more dreams about his childhood friend. But he won't avoid her completely. It was clear that Dusk wanted something from Kimi but there was little chance he could attack her if she's surrounded by Takuya, his friends, plus her brother all of the time. And besides, the thought about Chi was starting to drive him mad on the inside. He just had to find out about her.

"Hey, wait. Isn't that Izumi-chan up ahead?" Junpei said, pointing to a blond figure walking in front of them from a distance.

"Wait, I thought you said that Izumi-nee-chan got grounded, Takuya," Tomoki protested.

Takuya was a bit dumbfounded. He was so sure that what he heard from her last night on the phone was true. But if that was it, then why is she here a few meters in front of them and out on the street? Instead of letting that thought nagging him to the ground, Takuya decided to run again and meet her.

"Hey, Izumi! Wait up!" he called, leaving his friends behind in the dust.

"Takuya! Wait for us, will you?" Junpei cried as he and the others gave chase.

Takuya finally caught up with her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Izumi, are we glad to see you. What are you doing out here? I thought you said that your parents—"

The girl turned around and gave him a startled look. Her hair was blond and her eyes were also the same shade of green like Izumi…but…it's not Izumi!

"Wait a minute!" Takuya exclaimed. "You're not Izumi-chan!" The others caught up and once they saw her, they were a little bit surprised at the similarity in her appearance to Izumi.

The blond girl laughed. "No, and I don't know who you are, either," she replied. Takuya noticed that her accent sounded foreign…almost Italian if he didn't know any better. "But I know why you have mistaken me for Izumi. I am Rosalina, her cousin."

The boys gaped as Rosalina laughed. _Cousins? She's Izumi-chan's cousin?_ Takuya thought. For the next few seconds, his brain was blank as he did not know what to make of this. But then Rosalina closed his gaping mouth and said, "I see that you are too surprised, no?"

Tomoki was the first to absorb the new revelation and said, "Sorry, it's just that Izumi never told us about a cousin who looks almost like her."

"Funny, she told me so much about you in her e-mails," said Rosalina. Pointing to herself she continued, "Our _mama_ are sisters, so we both have similar family resemblance."

"So are you here to see your cousin, too?" Kouichi asked.

"_Sì_, I just arrived here in Tokyo last night," Rosalina answered. "I plan to surprise Izumi with my visit. Are you planning to hang out with her today?" she asked with a giddy tone. "Maybe I can join you, too, no?"

"Um about that…" Takuya started, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. But before he could tell Izumi's cousin about her being grounded, Rosalina spotted the restaurant's sign up ahead and ran off. He turned to the others and said, "Um…okay…that was kinda weird." They all nodded in agreement before continuing their normal pace towards the restaurant.

* * *

Enrico was at his wit's end. After what had happened yesterday, he and his fellow employees are too stressed to work, but for the sake of the Orimoto family, whom he had come to know as his new family, had decided to do their best and get to work. But that wasn't what was bothering him the most right now. Ever since this morning, Izumi had been scowling and have helped him serve several tables for breakfast…without a smile on her face.

The news of Rinaldo's murder had quickly spread throughout the surrounding district. It was so sudden and frightening for those who lived closest to the restaurant that they have decided to cancel their bookings. This morning should have brought in several hundred customers for breakfast…now the room was slashed down to half that size! The extra empty chairs were giving Enrico the chills. Wild rumors were beginning to spread fast and unfortunately, Enrico had the misfortune to hear one of them at a table he had just served.

"Are you sure?" said one customer, whispering beneath her breath.

"Yes, I heard that the poor guy was killed by a demon!" her companion replied. "Apparently he was so spiteful about his love life that it caused him to be easy prey for the demonic essence!"

"Really? I just heard about that, too! Only not him but another victim," said the first woman. "The news was talking about it. A woman died and they said that she was out drinking to flush her heartache away and then when she left she was attacked! This time, the culprit left a brutal stab into her heart!"

"That is so scary!" exclaimed her companion. "It looks like we're going to have to be careful not to get our hearts broken!"

"You think there's a curse?"

"Could be," reply her friend. "Maybe it has to do with the locations as well!"

"Well if that's true, there is no way I'm eating here again!"

"I know! Who would want to eat in a place where a murder scene just happened? For all we know, the victim's ghost could still be lurking around."

"Yeah! Only sick people who like gruesome horror stories would dare to come here!"

Enrico rolled his eyes but did so in a way that no one would notice. Meanwhile, Izumi had been called back to a table to take their order but the customer was being indecisive.

"Hmm…what do you recommend?" he asked Izumi as she tapped her notepad furiously.

"I recommend that you hurry up," Izumi replied rudely. "I got other customers to attend to, you know."

Insulted, the man got up to leave the restaurant.

"Excuse me, waitress!" said another customer behind Izumi. "My wife asked for a glass of water with _no ice_!"

"Then tell her to wait for it to melt!" Izumi snapped and went over to a different table to take another order. This time, the customer only asked her about the flavor.

"Hmm…what does the #2 clam spaghetti taste like?" he asked.

Annoyed, Izumi grabbed the half-eaten plate of clam spaghetti from the next table, taking the customer by surprise as she was in the middle of her meal. Then Izumi slammed the plate down in front of her current customer and said, "It's like this except there are more of it and better plated!"

Shocked at the rudeness he was taking, the customer was able to snap back at her when Enrico called, "Signorina Izumi!" he turned to both customers and apologized for the girl's rude behavior.

Pushing Izumi towards the back door and into the kitchen, Enrico motioned for another waitress to take her place up front.

"Signorina," he chided critically. "You know it's not my place but—"

"Then don't," Izumi said, crossing her arms and avoiding his gaze.

Enrico sighed and shook his head. "Look, I know that you're upset but you should know better than that! Those people are our customers and it's not like you to treat them so disrespectfully. Try to serve them with a smile at least?"

"I don't feel like smiling," Izumi protested, her eyes are too furious for tears but Enrico can sense it in her voice.

"Look, the commotion from yesterday is already giving us a bad name and rumors do spread fast around here," he explained. "The last thing we want is for them to spread the word that customer shouldn't eat here because of rude service."

"Hey, it's their fault for spreading the rumor that we're a cursed restaurant in the first place!" Izumi pointed out. "If those customers can't respect our business then why should I do the same?"

"Because the customers are always right," Enrico pointed out. "I thought that Japanese are known to treat all of their customers like royalties?"

"I'm only one-fourth Japanese, remember?" Izumi reminded him. "Hey, it's not like they never treated us mixed-blood any better."

"Aw, is that what you really think of us, Izumi-chan?" a teasing voice spoke up.

Izumi and Enrico turned around to see her friends grinning from the doors to the dining room. Seeing her friends really transformed Izumi's foul mood into a good one as she rushed over to them, never minding the dangerous sauce spilled on the floor when she accidentally knocked over a pan.

"Guys, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Uh, duh! We're here to pick up you and go over to Kyochi's house, remember?" Takuya laughed, reminding her with a huge grin. "After all, it's your idea that we should see Kouji's girl—"

Kouji shot him a glare.

"—Kimi," he corrected himself, "and convince her that we're all friends and blah, blah, blah. I told you that we would come anyway."

Izumi was touched and was about to point out that she's grounded when she suddenly heard a voice she didn't expect to hear, especially not on this side of the world.

"_Buongiorno, Zoë!_" Rosalina greeted in a musical Italian accent. "_Sei che sorpresa di vedermi piccola cugina?_"

The kitchen was then filled with shrilled screaming from both girls as they both grasped their hands and jumped up and down with joy to the point where several customers outside could hear the all the bustling.

"_KYA! ROSALINA!_" Izumi shrieked with excitement and switched to Italian. "_Perché sono qui in Giappone?_"

"_Io sono qui per visitare il mio cugina preferita!_" Rosalina replied.

"Wow, they really do look like sisters," Tomoki commented and the boys nodded as they looked on.

Suddenly, Romano and Teresa appeared. Enrico noticed that his employers' faces were anxious and fearful as if the sound of their daughter scream had just stirred their fears for the worst.

"Izumi, what's wrong?" Teresa cried. When she saw Takuya standing in her kitchen, her face contorted into dislike. Takuya cringed as if he had somehow insulted her and he couldn't figure out what. "Izumi, I thought I told you to—"

But before Teresa could finish her sentence, she spotted Rosalina standing next to Izumi and gasped. "Rosalina?" she asked.

Rosalina smiled and waved to her aunt and uncle. "_Zia Teresa e Zio Romano! Buongiorno!_"

After more exchanged family love and reunion, Romano asked his niece when did she arrive in Tokyo and why didn't she notify them earlier.

"I told you, Zio Romano," she said. "I wanted to surprise you. You're not happy to see me?"

"Of course, we're happy to see you, it's just all so unexpected. In fact, your sudden arrival might be just what we needed right now."

Confused, Rosalina asked, "_Che cosa, Zio?_"

Casting a quick glance at the boys, Romano pulled his niece to the side and told her about the recent murder events, including the one that took place at their own restaurant two nights before. Rosalina gasped. Although she never knew any of her uncle's employees like Alfredo as much as Izumi, she could understand the concern Romano is showing.

"But surely these events only happened at night, no?" Rosalina questioned. "I ran into Zoë's friends earlier," she said, indicating to Takuya and his friends. "I was hoping that they and Zoë can show me around today."

"_Mi dispiace, Rosalina_," Teresa objected. "But Izumi can't leave. She has to help us fill in for Alfredo."

"But it's summer vacation right now!" Takuya protested. "We've made plans!"

Remembering that Takuya is here, Romano and Teresa gave him a scrutinizing voice. Again Takuya cringed as if he was the one who had committed the crimes in their eyes.

"Takuya, this is a family matter, and no offense but Teresa and I have been talking lately and we will decide whether our daughter can join you in your summer activities or not," said Romano.

"But a new friend of ours needs our support and we can't do that without Izumi-chan!"

"Well, it looks like you're all going to have to," Teresa said, putting her hands on her hips.

Furious, Izumi pushed her ways towards her parents. "You can't do this! I have to go with them. It's important to me if I can help a new friend of ours!"

"And it's important to us if you would be so kind as to help us in the restaurant when we really need you the most!" Teresa countered.

"But—"

"_Abbastanza! Non posso prendere più di tuo egoismo!_" Teresa snapped, the tone of her voice dangerously low and furious. Looking up at Takuya, she said to him in a controlled voice that she could, "I'm sorry Takuya, but perhaps it is best if you and your friends don't come here for a while."

"Wait—what?" the boys cried, bombarding them with various protests.

"Why?"

"You're banning us? What for?"

"What did we do wrong?"

"This is not cool!"

"Zia Teresa," Rosalina jumped in. "Surely there must be a valid reason for all of this?"

For a moment, Izumi was afraid that her mother would complain outright that Takuya is a bad influence on her daughter and niece, too. But to her surprise, she didn't when she said, "We are going through a rough time right now and the last thing we want is for your shenanigans to distract our business."

Confused, Takuya asked, "Shenanigans?"

Enrico decided to explain it as decently as he could to the boy, "Signora Teresa meant that she would prefer if you didn't come here for a while because your presence here tends to…how should I put this? Your presence here tends to bring accidents to us."

"Look, if you're still angry that I accidentally broke your limbs, I told you I was sorry, _Enrico_!" Takuya held his hands up in defense.

"I'm not upset about that," Enrico pointed out. "It's just that the accident disabled me from working for several weeks."

"Hey, at least you still got paid!" Takuya grin, but Teresa and Romano were not laughing since were the one who had to pay Enrico's hospital bill. Kouji and Kouichi noticed this and grabbed Takuya by the arms and dragged him out.

"C'mon, Takuya," Kouji said stoically. "It's obvious that we're not wanted here."

Takuya could not believe what he was hearing, especially from his best friend. "Are you serious, Kouji? We can't just walk away like that!"

"Takuya-kun, we can't interfere while they're in a family business crisis," Kouichi explained. "We should just let things cool off for now."

Takuya continued his protest by kicking and struggling as the twins dragged him out the back door so that they wouldn't disturb the other customers out front.

Junpei and Tomoki both sighed and sadly bid Izumi good-bye.

"See you later, Izumi-chan," Junpei said. If he was still his fat self at age twelve, he would probably have cried and beg his crush's parents to reconsider. But no, Junpei was not that kid anymore. Ever since Izumi had forced him to lose weight and gain a healthier look, Junpei had also gain some dignity and respect for her as well, especially in times like this. The only thing Junpei knew he could do is smile and reassured Izumi that things will turn out well eventually. "Hope that you girls will have a better time catching up. Don't worry, I think we can handle Kimi on our own."

Then he and Tomoki both disappear out the back door.

For the first time, Izumi wanted to run after him and the others, but Romano stopped her. Furiously, she turned to her parents and yelled, "This isn't fair! It's bad enough that you confine me to this place and that I can't see Takuya, but it's another thing when you banish all of my friends!"

"The subject is close," Teresa matched her daughter's furious glare. "Whether you like it or not, you still live under our house and that means you still live under our rules."

"No, Teresa," Romano added seriously as he turned to Izumi. "Even if you're an adult, you still have to respect our decision and listen to what we tell you."

"However, since Rosalina is here, you two can still hang out," Teresa added.

Curious, Rosalina asked, "Am I grounded, too, Zia?"

Teresa shook her head. "No, but I would prefer that you stay away from those boys as well, Rosalina." Turning to her own daughter, she said, "Is that clear? Now why don't you make yourself useful and clear the tables out front?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea right now, Signora," Enrico added. "She already drove away more than five customers with her foul mood since this morning. That would hurt the business even further."

Irritated, Teresa pointed to the pasta station and said, "_Se non è possibile aiutare noi soddisfare il cliente, allora si può aiutarci a preparare il cibo in cucina!_"

But instead of complying, Izumi furious knocked over one of the waitresses' trays, spilling the plated hot food that was suppose to go to table thirteen. Instead, the pasta, the bread, the sauce, and the coffees splattered all over the floor and the plates shattered into several pieces.

"**IZUMI!"** Teresa screamed. The sudden burst of commotion drew the attention of the other chefs. Unfortunately, some of the servers stopped dead in the tracks between the kitchen and the dining room, leaving the door to both places open. Everyone in the dining room could now hear everything. But at this point, Izumi could care less.

"**I HATE YOU!"** Izumi yelled. **"I HATE YOU BOTH!"**

"Clean that up immediately, young lady!" Romano warned her. "Or so help me I will ground you until next year!" Turning to face the timid waitress, he ordered her and Enrico to get another plate out for the waiting customers.

"Like I even care since I can't see my friends anymore!" Izumi spat.

Teresa slapped her furiously across the cheeks. "Don't you dare talk to us in that tone, do you hear me?"

Not wanting to cry in front of everyone, Izumi pushed past her parents and ran for the stairs while her parents called her back. Izumi turned around and shot them both vindictive glares and said, **"IF YOU WON'T LET ME SEE TAKUYA AND THE OTHERS, THEN I AM NEVER TALKING TO YOU EVER AGAIN!"**

The door at the top of the stairs slammed and everyone in both kitchen and dining room gave each other looks. They all felt so embarrassed for the parents before pretending to go back to what they were doing.

Teresa was about to go after Izumi when Romano grabbed her by the arm and shook his head. "It won't do her any good now, love. She needs to cool her head off first."

Sighing with exhaust at the prospect of dealing with a rebellious teenager, Teresa sank to a chair in the corner and buried her face in her hands. Rosalina noticed that her aunt was sobbing herself and went up to her hesitantly.

"Zia Teresa?" Rosalina asked. "Can I get you something to drink?"

Sniffing, Teresa whipped her teary eyes and turned to her sister's daughter. "No, _nipote_," she said. "I'm sorry that you had to see that and your surprise visit was supposed to be happy, too."

"Well, I really was surprised, if that's what you meant," Rosalina teased lightly. "I know it's not my place, aunty, but maybe you shouldn't have those boys banned from the restaurant. They seemed nice enough."

"Rosalina, it's complicated," said her uncle. "That Kanbara boy…"

"The one in the red outfit, right?" Rosalina asked. He nodded.

"He's been giving us a few trouble these past few years and your aunt and I are starting to feeling that he's becoming a bad influence on your cousin," said Romano. "But maybe your visit could be a good influence on her."

_I wish everyone would stop saying that about me,_ Rosalina thought. She almost rolled her eyes at this comment but refrain herself from doing so. After the kitchen fiasco earlier, Rosalina thought it is best not to tell them that she actually ran away from her sister's home and escaped to Japan.

"So how long will you be staying with us, Rosalina?" Teresa asked.

"About a week," Rosalina replied.

"What a shame," Teresa said, obviously a little bit disappointed. "I was hoping that you could stay with us the entire summer."

"Sorry, Zia," Rosalina said. "But I have plans to stick to. It can't be help. I only came here for a quick break."

"Well, I'd say that you can stay in Izumi's room but since she locked herself in, you can have the guest room next door," said Romano. He then noticed that his niece didn't carry any luggage.

"Where are your things?" he asked.

"They lost my suitcase at Narita Airport so I told them to deliver it here once they track it down."

"How unfortunate," Romano commented. "Well, c'mon. I'll show you the guest room.

They passed Izumi's room and for a moment, Rosalina expected to hear things crashing, but instead all they hear were silence.

Once Romano showed her to her room, her brought out the extra pillows and sheets and told her that she's welcome to go sight-seeing on her own if she feels like it. Rosalina waited until he disappeared downstairs and went over to her cousin's room. To her surprise, Izumi didn't lock the door.

"_Ciao_," Rosalina said, coming in. Izumi was lying on her bed with her face buried in her pillow, but she was too furious to sob properly. Shrugging off the cold shoulder, Rosalina made herself comfortable at her study desk. "So," she began, "looks like I came in at a bad time, huh?"

Izumi said nothing.

"If it's any help, I don't think your parents were trying to ruin your life on purpose," Rosalina commented, tilting the chair back and forth. Izumi turned her head and shot her cousin a murderous glare. Rosalina raised her hands up in defense, and said, "But it's not like I'm agreeing with their methods, either. And I have to tell you that my first impression of that brown-hair boy…the one in the red outfit—"

"Takuya. His name is Takuya," Izumi pointed out.

"Yeah, Takuya…I think he's nice. Hard to believe that he would give this place any real trouble on purpose," Rosalina laughed, but then she realized something. "Wait, is he the same Takuya who accidentally caused you to miss my sister's wedding toast?"

Izumi continued to glare at her for pointing out the obvious. But instead of changing her mind about Takuya being a trouble-maker, Rosalina laughed and praised him.

"No way! You're telling me that you got to missed Stella's boring wedding reception because of some accident he did? Izumi, you are so lucky to have someone like him around!"

"You thought the wedding was awful? But Stella's your sister," Izumi said, surprised.

"Are you kidding? You know how traditional Stella is!" Rosalina rolled her eyes and sat down at the foot of Izumi's bed instead. "Seriously, we're in the twenty-first century and she still thinks that girls like us should stay home and help around the house twenty-four hours every single of the week! Remember how she disapproves of us wearing outfits that were too _revealing_ for her taste?"

Izumi remembered the last time she was in Italy for a visit and her older cousin Stella had chided her for wearing her purple outfit that had showed her stomach and knees. Izumi was never really fond of Stella to begin with. Out of all her cousins, Stella was the one that she liked the least. Sometimes Izumi wondered if Stella was really born in an old village where women were still dependent on men and live by their standards instead of for their own.

Every time Romano and Teresa said that they were going to visit Teresa's sister and her family, Izumi always dreaded to go. Her only saving grace was that Rosalina was around her age and does not share her sister's old-fashion taste. Izumi remembered one time where they locked themselves in Rosalina's room and started to gossip about fashions, models, and movie stars while listening to the latest pop songs at maximum volume much to Stella's annoyance.

"I had to get away from her, Izumi. Stella has been driving me crazy!" Rosalina continued. Then, lowering her voice Rosalina whispered, "And if it makes you feel any better, Zoë, Stella wanted to groom me into becoming a proper obedient girl by making me stay and work in my parents' restaurant as well!"

Izumi's eyes were wide open. Sure, her own aunt and uncle also have their own restaurant in Venice, but she didn't expect Rosalina to be in the same boat (or gondola) as hers right now.

"Your parents actually agreed?" Izumi asked.

"Hell, no!" Rosalina scoffed. "My parents let me do what I want as long as it's nothing illegal or stupid. They're both on vacation throughout Italy. Recently they've been dropping by to see relatives in Siena, Ravenna, Rome, Florence, and Sicily. They left my brother-in-law in charge of the restaurant. And when he's in charge, that means Stella is in charge of me…or so she thought!"

"You ran away?" Izumi realized. And Rosalina hushed her.

"Shh! Not so loud! My parents don't even know that I'm here yet!"

"So why'd you do it?" Izumi asked. She sat up and hugged one of her pillows as if they were both sitting down for gossips during a sleep-over party.

"I ran into _Photo-Shootia Italia_ a few days before. You know, the famous fashion photography studio in Italy?" Izumi nodded. "Well, one of their photographers absolutely loved my figure and poses that she asked me to be her new model! Can you believe it?"

"No way? Seriously?" Izumi exclaimed, clearly excited by the idea as well.

"I mean it, Zoë," said Rosalina, address Izumi by her Italian name. "My dream was coming true! They wanted me to model for a teen fashion magazine. So I went with them for a test run in one of their studios in Venice and they absolutely loved it. Then they told me to meet them in Milan, the fashion capital! They want me to go on tour with them starting from there."

Izumi felt that there was bad news coming. "But…?" she stressed.

Rosalina scowled furiously. "Of course, Stella doesn't approve! She thinks it's not proper for a young lady to travel around the world with strangers and she thinks that all fashion models are stupid stick figures who don't care about anything or anyone but themselves!"

"So to keep you from missing your big break, Stella told you to stay in Venice and work in the restaurant?" Izumi guessed.

"Urgh! She's ruining my dream of becoming a world famous fashion model with all of her conservative philosophies!" Rosalina spat furiously. "Don't get me wrong, Zoë, I love my sister and all but I can't stand her old-fashion ways. She needs to know that I can take care of myself and let me be off to start my own career and I am still determined to go to Milan. No one can stop me, not even Stella!"

Both were silent for a moment before Izumi asked, "So how did you escape the restaurant and get out of Venice? And what about your parents? Don't you need their permission before you start an official contract with _Photo-Shootia Italia_?"

"I bribed our executive chef to smuggle me out of the restaurant in one of those gondolas that was delivering our food that day. Then I took a _vaporetti_ to the mainland and bought my ticket here to Tokyo."

Izumi was puzzled. "But why here. Why didn't you go straight to Milan?"

Rosalina sighed and said, "Because I don't have enough money to stay in a hotel for a week there. And Zio Giuseppe's house is locked because he's picking up my parents in Florence first before he comes home with them. So I can't stay there. And once Stella finds out I'm gone, she's going to try and contact all of our aunts and uncles all over Italy and tell them to send me home. Of course, knowing her, she's going to ask them to keep this a secret from Mom and Dad for now."

"And your parents?" Izumi asked again.

"Like I said, they don't care what I do so long as it's not illegal or stupid," said Rosalina. Izumi gave her a raised brow and she added, "Okay, this was stupid, but not stupid, stupid, stupid. You know? They both know that I want to be a fashion model so they're not going to stop me from trying. Look, Zoë…I have everything planned out: I'll catch my parents in Milan in one week once they get there and then ask them to come with me to the photo shooting studio and convince them to sign the contract. Sure, they're going to be mad at first, but they'll get over it. And once I'm on my way, Stella will never be able to keep me under her reign ever again! I'll be free at last and on my way to the red carpets of the world even! But in the meantime, I need a place to crash and Japan is the last place Stella would think to look for me."

Izumi smiled, clearly happy for her cousin's brighter future. For a moment, Izumi was jealous because unlike Rosalina, her goal isn't so grand. She really wished that she could be bold like her and take chances.

"So…" Rosalina started. "What's going on with you and Takuya?"

Immediately, Izumi's cheeks blushed. "Nothing! Nothing's going on between us. We're just friends."

Rosalina giggled, clearly not buying it. "Sure you two are," she said sarcastically. "C'mon, Zoë! You know I'll get it out of you eventually!"

Sighing in defeat, Izumi confessed, "Okay, okay, already. I kinda like him. Happy?"

Rosalina nodded. "So why do you have to go with him and others so much today? From the looks of things, it's as if it's important to you all."

Izumi shook her head, unsure where to begin. "It's complicated, Rosalina," she said. "You see, there's this…new girl in the group yesterday…she's really pretty but kinda withdrawn. And there was an incident yesterday and something happened that convinced her that we're not really her friends because of her heritage."

"So this new friend doesn't believe that you and the others really want to be her friends but to take advantage of being her friend for the spotlight?" Rosalina asked. "Is she important? Like the daughter of a governor or something?"

"More or less," Izumi replied. "So we don't really want her to think badly of us and we really do want her to be our friends, regardless of her background connection. I told the boys that we should go over to her house today and convince her otherwise. And besides, Takuya and the others are my first friends ever since we moved back here."

"How so?"

"Well, since I'm mixed and lived abroad, everyone in my class just thought that I was weird and not like them," said Izumi. "They treated me like an outsider who's a snob and not good enough to be their friends. But Takuya and the others…they were the first to accept me for who I am!" Rosalina nodded. "And being around them helped me be more confidence in myself and the next thing I knew, I was able to make friends in my classes just as well, too."

"Sounds like you really owe it to Takuya and the others, huh?" said Rosalina.

"You have no idea," Izumi nodded.

"Yeah, now I see why you got so angry when your parents banned them from the restaurant."

Izumi scowled at this reminder when suddenly Romano knocked on the door.

"Izumi, you have more than enough time to cool off," he said. "I expect you downstairs in the kitchen helping with the food prep in fifteen minutes, do you hear me?"

Izumi didn't answer him, clearly sticking to her promise to not talk to him or her mother until they release their restraining order.

They heard Romano sigh and disappeared downstairs. Frustrated, Izumi threw herself off the bed and paced her room. "What am I going to so, Rosalina?" she asked. "If I stay stuck in here all summer I am surely to go mad!"

"I'm sure there's some way out of it," said Rosalina. "Maybe I can help you with the food prep?"

"Oh, I wish that I could be as bold as you when you ran away…" Suddenly, an idea came to Izumi's mind. "Wait, that's it!" Turning to Rosalina, Izumi grabbed her cousin by the shoulder and said, "You can take my place!"

Stunned, her cousin gapped. "Wait…what?"

"You can take my place!" Izumi repeated, letting go of her cousin. "We both look the same from behind and the staff won't notice if you keep your head down."

"I don't know about this, Zoë," said Rosalina cautiously, unsure how to get a grip on this without disappointing her cousin.

"Please, Rosalina," Izumi begged. "I can't be apart from Takuya…or the others this summer. You understand, right? You ran away to follow your dreams, didn't you?"

"But that's different," Rosalina protested. "You can't possibly expect me to cover you all summer! I told you that I have to fly to Milan by the end of this week. And what about your parents? Sure, I might be able to fool them if I avoid them long enough, but sooner or later Zia Teresa and Zio Romano are going to find out especially when I'm talking."

"But you won't be! I'm not talking to them for the time being, remember?" said Izumi. Clapping her hands together as if praying, she begged some more. "Please, please, please! Takuya and I have something else to do, too, and it's also very important."

Rosalina raised an eyebrow. "You're not planning to ditch me and elope, are you?"

"What? No! This is something entirely different!" Izumi protested. "I can't give you the details because it's not my secret but I can tell you that it's like a reconnaissance mission and Takuya and I are the only ones who can do it. PLEEEEEASE?"

In Rosalina's mind, she was in an agony of indecision. Her favorite cousin is asking her to do something that could get both of them in serious trouble. A part of her mind was telling her to refuse and tell her aunt and uncle about it. But at the same time, Rosalina thought that Izumi's plan to be with Takuya was kinda cute and romantic and she definitely loved the idea.

After another quick thought, Rosalina nodded. "Okay, I'll do it, but you have to promise me that you'll never tell your parents why I ran away in the first place. I can cover for you for a few hours each day until I have to leave for Milan next week. And also, you have to be back here once in a while during your 'excursion' so that no one will get suspicious."

Izumi nodded eagerly and gave her cousin a big hug. "You're the best, Rosa!"

"Okay, stop crushing my lungs!" cried Rosalina. "C'mon! We have to plan it out first."

"Right, so how do we do it now?" Izumi nodded, lowering her voice.

"I have an idea," Rosalina started, lowering her voice as well. "But we will have to switch our clothes. Hopefully, those idiots have already tracked down my missing suitcase at the airport."

Suddenly, Romano knocked on the door again. "Izumi, I thought I told you to get downstairs and help with the prep! And Rosalina? They found your suitcase and just delivered it. I left it in your room, okay?"

"_Grazie, Zio!_" Rosalina cried.

Both girls grinned at their good luck.

"Let's do it!"

**To be continued…**

**Author's notes: Sorry it took me a while, I was busy with schoolwork. Yes, this time I cross-overed this chapter with characters from both Digimon Adventures and Zero Two. _Galaxy Battles_ is a parody of _Star Wars_ and Gennai does look like a Jedi, doesn't he? It's true. In Japan and in most Asian societies, they look down on those who are mixed blood such as Izumi. We pretty much saw that a lot in the anime where Izumi's classmates treated her like an outsider. And this time, I wanted to use Izumi's dubbed name, Zoë, as her "Italian" name whenever Rosalina feels like it.  
**

**The scene in the restaurant where Izumi is being extremely rude to the customers came from an episode of the first season of **_**W.I.T.C.H.**_** which was aired on Jetix and the Toon Disney Channel at one point. I thought it would be kinda funny.**

**Italian translations (sorry, but my Italian is pretty lame):**

"_**Buongiorno, Zoë!**_**"—"Good morning, Zoë!"**

"_**Sei che sorpresa di vedermi piccola cugina?**_**"—"Are you surprised to see me, little cousin?"**

"_**Perché sono qui in Giappone?**_**"—"Why are you here in Japan?"**

"_**Io sono qui per visitare il mio cugina preferita!**_**"—"I am here to visit my favorite cousin!"**

"_**Zia Teresa e Zio Romano! Buongiorno!**_**"—"Aunt Teresa and Uncle Romano! Good morning!"**

"_**Che cosa, Zio?**_**"—"What is it, Uncle?"**

"_**Mi dispiace, Rosalina,**_**"—"I am sorry, Rosalina."**

"_**Abbastanza! Non posso prendere più di tuo egoismo!**_**"—"Enough! I have had enough of your selfishness!"**

"_**Se non è possibile aiutare noi soddisfare il cliente, allora si può aiutarci a preparare il cibo in cucina!**_**"—"If you cannot help us satisfy the customers, then you can help us prepare the food in the kitchen!"**

**_"Grazie, Zio!"_****—**"Thanks, Uncle!"  


**Nipote—Niece/nephew**

_**Gondola**_**—banana-shaped boats sculled by hands in the canals of Venice. One of the most popular symbols of the city. Used for tourists as well as deliveries.**

_**Vaporetti**_**—water buses, one of the main public transportation in Venice, Italy.**


	32. Runaway German Chocolate Cake

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter 31: Runaway German Chocolate Cake  
**

After the boys were kicked out of the restaurant, Takuya did nothing but brood, pondering why Izumi's parents, especially Teresa, had banned him. What he couldn't figure out was how she had looked at him as if he was a rodent, something that should never set foot in the restaurant.

They were now sitting in the park at their usual meeting place under the cherry blossom trees, silent as the pink petals continued to float around them in early summer. Takuya sighed and picked up a cherry blossom petal that fell right in front of him, twirling it between his fingers.

"Shenanigans," Takuya commented. "That's what they called it. I still don't get it. What did I do wrong there?"

"Look, you're not the only one who just got banned, Takuya," Kouji pointed out. "If you haven't noticed, we were all kicked out!"

"I know that!" Takuya retorted, turning to face Kouji. "But did you see the way Izumi's parents just looked at me?"

"You do have a point there, Takuya," said Tomoki, shivering. "As if looks could kill! Izumi's mom seems to have a vendetta towards you the most."

"Shenanigans!" Takuya repeated. "What the hell did they mean by that?"

"Enrico did say that your presence tends to cause accident for them," Junpei replied, shrugging his shoulders with his arms crossed.

"Oh, c'mon!" Takuya objected. "That was just one accident. I didn't mean for him to accidentally step on my skateboard."

"He crashed past two tables and finally landed in the fish tank head first, Takuya!" Kouji reminded him sourly.

"Yeah, and the poor guy had to get stitches from all that glass shards sticking out of his skin along with castes for his broken limb," Junpei pointed out. "He was practically immobile in a wheelchair for several weeks."

"Fine, it was stupid of me to put my skateboard where anyone could trip over it," Takuya sighed, shaking his head. But the thought still bothered him. "But I still don't get it. That was just one accident but they treated me as though I've done more than that."

The others looked at each other and shook their heads. Takuya glare at the three boys suspiciously and said, "What?"

"Takuya, I swear you are so oblivious sometimes," Kouji remarked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"What are you talking about, Kouji?" Takuya demanded.

"Haven't you figured it out yet, goggle-head?" said Kouji, crossing his arms. "Enrico's accident wasn't the only thing caused by you."

"Meaning?" Takura strained.

"Well, there was that time you made Izumi-chan missed her cousin's wedding," Kouichi reminded.

"How was I supposed to know that the wedding was in Italy?" Takuya objected. "If I known it before hand, I wouldn't have made Izumi miss her plane."

"And there was that time you broke the windows with your soccer ball during the World Cup Tournament," Junpei added.

"And the fish tank, too," said Tomoki.

"Aw c'mon! I got carried away. You know how I get whenever Japan wins a soccer tournament, and that time they were showing us Japan playing against Brazil in the World Cup on my iPad!"

"You also set the table cloth on fire," Kouji pointed out. Turning to his brother, he said, "He tried to put it out by pouring a customer's wine from table next to us over it, which by the way, only made things worse."

"Not my fault!" Takuya objected.

Kouji rolled his eyes. "Oh, c'mon. You definitely knocked over that candle and set our table on fire that night."

"Hey, it's not my fault that those stupid candles were tall, Kouji!" Takuya pointed out. "Anyone of you could have done it, too. And any restaurant business should know that it's a hazardous to place those kinds of candles in the dining room."

The others gave him a disbelieving look before Tomoki decided to cut in and prevent Kouji and Takuya from going at each other's throat.

"Look, instead of debating about this, what are we going to do now?"

"Well, obviously we can't clear thing with the little Lusterian princess without Izumi since she's the most persuasive among us," Kouji noted.

"What about you?" Takuya asked. If Kouji reacted, he didn't show it.

"What about me?" Kouji asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Well, sure having Izumi around could help since both she and Kimi are girls and can connect with each other better, but what about you, buddy?" Takuya pointed out. "I mean, c'mon! You saved her yesterday during that earthquake and from the looks of things, I think you actually like her and she likes you."

Kouji blushed and instantly shot Takuya a glare. "Kouichi and I are only her guides because Kyochi asked us to do it as a favor. There's nothing going on between us."

"Going on between who?" said a voice behind them.

The boys turned around to see a girl smiling at them mischievously. At first, they all thought that she was Izumi's cousin because of the attire. But upon closer inspection, they realized that it was not Rosalina at all.

"Izumi-chan!" Junpei cried, clearly surprised to see her after what had happened in the restaurant. Of course, he was not the only one.

"Izumi, h-how did you? W-why are you…?" Takuya stuttered.

"Slow down before you choke on yourself, Takuya," Kouji commented.

"Izumi, why are you here?" Tomoki spoke up. "We thought that you're staying in the restaurant to help your family's business."

Izumi scoffed. "My parents are getting too overprotective since that earthquake scare." Folding her arm in frustration at the thought of her parents, Izumi scowled and continued, "My mom is getting more paranoid and she's starting to blame you guys as the main cause. Well, I'm sick of her and my dad telling who I can and can't hang out with. I'm old enough for myself to tell who's good enough to be my friends."

"Wow, I'm touch," Kouji commented sarcastically, rolling his eyes at the same time.

"Thanks for being so supportive, Mr. Sarcastic," Izumi said, matching his sarcasm.

"Wait, if you're here, won't your parents know that you're gone?" Takuya asked.

"My cousin Rosalina is covering for me," Izumi smiled. Pulling at her collar, she said, "We switched clothes and I'm not even talking to my parents or any of the staffs. So as long as Rosalina keeps her head down and quiet, they won't notice the difference. Hopefully she can do it long enough for us to convince Kimi that we're friends."

Kouji smirked at the idea. "Yeah, I can really see this plan working like a charm."

Izumi was about to retort Kouji's snarky remark but Kouichi stopped her by trying his best to change the subject. He spotted something in her hand and asked, "What's that you have there."

Izumi looked down at what she's holding and smiled. It was a pink box with a string tied around it and judging from the logo sticker on it, Izumi probably just got it from the bakery.

"I thought this would help sweeten the tension that might come when we meet Kimi again," Izumi winked mischievously.

"Don't you mean sweeten the meeting with Kyochi-kun instead?" Junpei suggested, a hint of jealousy in his tone of voice. Izumi shot him an annoyed look and so did Takuya who suddenly realized that he's getting a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach from of Junpei's comment. He decided to change subject and turned to Izumi.

"Okay, let's get going, but first," Takuya said, "do we really know where the Watsuki family lives?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Izumi said, pulling out her mobile phone to check her old text message. "Kyochi-kun gave me his address while I was on the phone with him at the mall. Originally, I wanted to drop by and talk to him more privately about Ami's conditions." Izumi smiled as she finally founded the exact text message she was looking for, the one where it shows Kyochi's address. "C'mon, I'll lead the way."

There was that same feeling in Takuya's stomach again, only this time slightly more noticeable. Takuya didn't know why but when Izumi mentioned that she wanted to talk to Kyochi alone, Takuya can't help but feel…uncomfortable. _What the hell was going on?_ Takuya thought. He was about to make a point on it when suddenly, Izumi grabbed his hand and happily dragged him towards the neighbor district located behind them. The others followed and began to cheerfully discuss their plan of action. Unknown to them, Kouji slowed down and pulled his brother away. Kouichi was about to ask him what he was doing before his twin placed a finger to his lip and motioned him to quietly ditch the others.

* * *

"What the hell? What just happened in here?" Masaki cried as soon as he stepped into the Watsukis' kitchen.

Masaki and his friend, Takashi, arrived at the Watsuki resident hoping to coax Kimi out of her bad mood by inviting her and her brother to the city with them. To both of their surprises, the front door was opened and once they found the twins in the kitchen…they were shock to see it covered in uncooked cookie dough…or at least splattered by it.

Turning to Kyochi who was waved hello to them sheepishly, Masaki shook his head and raised an eyebrow. "No, wait. Don't tell me. Let me guess: You let your sister cook, huh?"

"I thought this would be a good idea for a brother-sister-bonding time," Kyochi replied with a smile.

Shaking his head in disbelief, "Seriously? You should know that a princess like her does not cook."

Kimi shot him an annoyed glare as she tries to wipe the food off her clothes. To her dismay, the dough in her hair wasn't coming off that easily.

Kyochi shrugged and said, "Oh, c'mon. She's not that bad. At least she's good with a knife."

Masaki rolled his eyes and pointed at Kyochi, noting, "Get real. You're both covered in uncooked cookie dough and this place is a mess! You did tell Kimi to press **GENTLE** on the food mixer, didn't you? Oh, geez. I feel sorry for your maid."

"Um…she's not here right now," Kyochi avoided Masaki's gaze uncomfortably. "Our house maid left because of family emergency and Mom's at work. It's just me and Kimi here."

Takashi, on the other hand, went over to Kimi and tried to help her get the dough out of her dark-bluish hair. But when he accidentally pulled too hard, she slapped his hand away and went towards the stairs.

"Oh, wait, Kimi-chan! I didn't mean it," he said. "If anything else, at least the cookie dough makes you smell good."

"Wow, I'm flattered, "Kimi replied sarcastically. "If you boys all excuse me, I need a shower."

"A…shower?" Takashi blinked.

He was about to ask her if she was going to help them clean the mess in the kitchen when she turned her and asked in a stoic voice, "What? You want to take one with me?"

Takashi blushed furiously at her suggestion and began to stammer. "I…I…um…you…what? You…want me…to what? What…are…you…wait…huh?"

Before he could finished, she was already upstairs and both Kyochi and Masaki laughed at Kimi's little joke.

"What are you laughing at?" Takashi demanded.

"She definitely got you again, Takashi-kun!" Masaki pointed out. "First it was the fake I-am-on-a-date-with-Kouji thing yesterday and now this!"

At the slightest mention of Kouji, Takashi seethed through his teeth and pointed at the both, screaming, "Don't you ever mention that jerk's name in my presence!"

"Why? You jealous?" Masaki teased. "It's written all over your face!"

"I'm not jealous!"

"Oh, yeah? Then why is your face all red with fury?" Masaki pointed out.

Before Takashi could retort, Kyochi cleared his throat and said, "Mind giving me a hand with this mess, you two?"

It took them half an hour to finish cleaning and getting the unbaked cookie dough out of the oven. Needless to say, they looked terrible but otherwise tasted wonderful to the point that Takashi was stuffing his mouth. By then, Kimi came downstairs with her hair slightly damp but free of cookie dough after her long shower. Kyochi offered her a piece but she refused. Instead, she went to help him put the dishes and utensils away.

"So why are you two here?" Kimi asked with her backs to Takashi and Masaki.

"Isn't it obvious?" Masaki said. "We just came by to see how you're doing, Kimi. After what happened yesterday, did you really expected us to leave you alone like that?"

"I don't need you guys to be my keepers," Kimi replied coldly, slamming the silver spoons and chopsticks back into their place in the cupboard.

"We're not here because we don't think that you can deal with the aftermath yourself," Masaki raised his hands in defense. Trying his best to explain things without upsetting her, Masaki put on his mature and calming voice. "Look, you can be all angst if you want, but I'm telling you with honesty that we're your friends and the four of us look out for each other. That's what friends do."

Kimi sighed, as she placed a small, clean knife back in its place along with the other knives. What Masaki said was true. Masaki and Takashi were perhaps her closest friends along with her twin ever since she moved to Japan. If anything else, they had always treated her as if she was one of them and that was more than some of the Lusterian people back home ever did.

"Thanks," Kimi said with a small smile. "But I can't help but feel that you're also here to tell me something." Place her hands on her hips, Kimi smirked, "So? What is it? Spit it out."

Takashi beamed with joy and said, "Masaki and I are both planning to go to Chinatown and we were wondering if you would like to join us!"

"Ahem!" Masaki cleared his throat and gestured towards Kyochi.

Takashi rolled his and added, "I mean…we were wondering if you and _your brother_ would like to join us today."

"Just the four of us?" Kimi's eyebrow arched up.

"Yep, just the four of us," Takashi assured her. "No bodyguards and photo presses. And definitely not those six kids who ruined our day yesterday."

Kimi's mind immediately filled with images of Takuya, Kouji, Kouichi, Izumi, Junpei, and Tomoki and she frowned at her unpleasant experience around them at the park. Seeing his sister's dark expression, Kyochi immediately try to change the subject and get Kimi's mind off of them for now.

He spotted Masaki's new bag and asked, "Masaki-kun, is that a new camera?"

Pleased to have something to show off, Masaki nodded and showed his friends his video recorder proudly. "It's this awesome? I finally saved enough money to buy myself the latest version! And this one doesn't need any disk or tapes! It records with chips and I can plug it into my computer for film editing later!"

"That's awesome, since your last one broke," Takashi added.

"Yeah, I wonder who's fault that was, Takashi," Kimi snickered and the other two chuckled at Takashi.

:Hey, you know what?" Masaki started, bringing the eye-hole of the hand-held camera to one of his eyes, "I could shoot a video of us four having a good time out in the city today! Then, I can edit it into discs and give you guys some copies to keep!"

Kimi smiled a bit and the three boys sigh in relief discreetly. Finally, she was cheering up.

Kyochi smiled and went upstairs to clean himself up. "I made some pan-cakes earlier this morning." He said to Takashi and Masaki who spotted the delicious plate on the dining table behind them. "Help yourselves while I get clean-up."

"Don't mind if I do!" Takashi grinned and dug himself right into Kyochi's homemade pancakes. _This is sweet! _Takashi thought to himself. _Finally, I can actually spend more quality time with Kimi without Takuya and his friends to spoil the moment!_

But just after Takashi took another bite out of his pancakes, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Masaki stated as he made his way towards the front door. "Wonder who it is..."

When he opened the door, Masaki was graced with the smiling faces of Takuya and his friends.

"Heya, buddy!" Takuya waved. "Seems like you're doing well!"

Masaki was at lost for words while Takashi chocked on his pancake upon hearing Takuya's happy tone of voice.

"Hey, Masaki-kun!" Tomoki beamed at his friend. "How's it going?"

"Tomoki-kun?" Masaki stared with a confused look on his face. "Wait! Why are you guys here?"

Before Tomoki could answer him, Takuya said with a big, stupid grin on his face, "We just wanted to drop in and see how Kimi's doing."

"She doesn't need to see you!" Takashi replied coldly, crossing his arms.

"Aw, why not?" Takuya asked. He turned to Izumi and nudged her forward. "C'mon buddy! We're all friends here, right?"

Izumi gave Takashi a smile and Takashi immediately looked away with his cheeks flaming red and pink. Holding up the box she giggled, "Hey, Takashi-kun. We brought some cake. May we come in?"

"Um…"

Before Takashi could say another word, Masaki said, "So let me get this straight…you _four_ came here to see how Kimi's doing after what happened yesterday?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask Kyochi-kun in person on Ami's medical recover as well," Izumi added.

"Hey, wait a minute," Takuya blinked in confusion. "What do you mean by _four_? There are six of us, buddy."

Takuya and the others turned around only to find that Masaki was telling the truth. Doing a quick headcount, Takuya realized that Kouji and Kouichi weren't behind them and nowhere in sight.

"That rotten bastard!" Takuya yelled. "He ditched up! Kouji totally ditched us! And he dragged his brother with him!"

"What a jerk." Junpei added.

Izumi and Tomoki gave each other worried looks and sighed.

"Where did they go?" Tomoki asked. Suddenly, he felt a vibration in his pocket. One by one, he and his three friends pulled out their mobile phone. "It's a text message from Kouichi-kun," Tomoki noted. "It says something like '**I forget that I have violin lesson today and Kouji and I have to help Satomi with the house chores later. I'm very sorry for ditching you guys. Please don't think badly of us. P.S. Please send Kimi-hime our regards.**"

"You have got to be kidding me," Izumi frowned. "All I ask is that we all come here to make some amend and those two left us without saying a word?"

"Maybe Kouji told his brother not to tell us and dragged him along," Tomoki reasoned. "From the text message, it's pretty clear that Kouichi is lying because he doesn't have violin lesson until two more days."

"But Kouji still could have said something about it so that Kouichi doesn't have to give us a lame excuse on our phones," Junpei pointed out.

"What the hell could be so important to that selfish bastard that he couldn't tell us in person!" Takuya yelled, clearly still furious that his best friend had pulled a ditching trick on him.

Takashi and Masaki just gave each other confused looks. Whatever's going on in front of them, it's definitely a bit awkward.

"Hey, what's going over here?" said a voice.

They all turned around to see a now dough-free Kyochi standing behind them. Once he noticed who were standing at his front door, his eyes widen in surprised.

"Takuya!" he started, "Why are you and your friends here?"

This time, Izumi decided to answer the question. Holding the pink box in her hands, Izumi smiled and gave him a more convincing tone of voice in her reasoning. "I wanted to ask you in person on Ami-chan's medical condition. And we're all here to cheer Kimi-chan up. After what happened yesterday, we really wanted to see how she's doing and explain to her that really happen. Here."

Handing him the pink box, Izumi continued, "A gift for you guys. We're really sorry that our field trip yesterday with your sister didn't turn out so well. But we never really meant for any of those incidents to happen."

"Yeah, it was really out of our hands, buddy," Takuya added.

Reaching out for the pink box, Kyochi understood that what Izumi and her friends are doing right now is full of sincerity and honesty. Seeing the local bakery's logo sticker on the pink box, Kyochi couldn't help but smiled.

"Come in," he said. Takashi gapped with his mouth opened. He was too astonished about this.

As Takuya and his friends took off their shoes, Takashi ran to the hallway to catch up to Kyochi. He grabbed the older twin's shoulder. "Kyochi, you can't be serious!" Takashi hissed between his teeth. "Kimi is going to freak out when she sees them!"

Kyochi shrugged. "They're not so bad, Takashi," he said.

"Not so bad?" Takashi's left eye twitched. "They're friends with that Kouji jerk-face who _touched_ your sister!"

"Takashi, I think you're being overactive again," Masaki said, rolling his eyes. "Seriously, you have some crazy imaginations sometimes."

Takashi was about to object but Kyochi stopped dead in place and blocked his access to the kitchen. With a serious look, Kyochi replied with an even tone, "It'll be fine, Takashi. My sense is telling me that Takuya and his friends are not here to take advantage of Kimi just because she's a princess."

"Oh, you and your sixth sense crap," Takashi whispered, lowering his voice as Takuya and his friends followed Masaki into the kitchen where Kimi was in. "I'm telling you, Kyochi, that Kimi is going to freak when she sees them! I wouldn't be surprised if she starts throwing knives at them as soon as they walk into the kitchen."

Once Takashi mentioned the knives, Kyochi's mind clicked in and he suddenly realized that Kimi was still putting some of the kitchen knives away! Holding the pink bakery box firmly, Kyochi rushed into the kitchen without dropping it in order to stop his sister from killing Takuya and the gang on first sight.

Well, luckily for Takuya his friends, Kimi didn't throw the knives in her hands at them on sight. She was a little bit too surprised at first to even try. But she gave her twin a cold glare once he set foot in the kitchen.

"Nii-san," she demanded in a moody tone of voice. "Why are these people here?"

Thinking quickly, Kyochi said, "Oh, don't mind them, Kimi. Izumi-chan is just here to ask me how her friend is doing in the hospital."

"And she couldn't call to ask you instead why?" Kimi continued, shooting Izumi a glare.

Izumi held up her hands in defense and replied hesitantly. "I just feel more reassure asking him the details in person."

Kimi continued to glare at the Italian-Japanese girl with cold, piercing blue eyes that seems know that she's lying. Izumi suddenly felt a chill down her spine and even more so when Kimi mouthed the Italian word for, "Liar!"

Hoping to diffuse his sister's growing irritation, Kyochi placed the pink box close to her right and opened it. "Oh, you brought a cake?" he asked Izumi.

Izumi nodded. "Yeah, German chocolate cake." Turning to Kimi, she added. "I hope that you like it.

Izumi doesn't know it yet, but Kimi absolutely loved German chocolate cake. However, Kimi wasn't about to let her or the other boys know this and kept a straight face.

"Hey, cool! You brought the kind that's big enough for all of us, Izumi-chan!" Junpei noted hungrily at the sweet.

"I like to think ahead when it comes to food," Izumi smiled, taking in the compliment.

"Kimi, why don't you and the others get the plates out for our guests?" Kyochi suggested, hoping that his sister would comply. She didn't at first until Masaki started to open a cupboard and handed her a pile to keep her hands occupied from the knives. She sighed, and slide each of them a plate while Masaki took out some silver forks. She looked around to count heads quietly in her mind and noticed that two were missing.

"Um, by the way, if you're looking for that Kouji-jerk…he's not here," Takuya said, noticing her wandering eyes. Kimi instantly shot him a cold glare and Takuya immediate jumped back. "Sheesh! Enough with the evil glare already, will ya? Look, we wanted your _boyfriend_ and his brother to come, too. But apparently, they both have something better to do and ditched us behind our backs while we were on our way here."

"You're lying," Kimi said.

"No he's not!" Tomoki objected. Taking out his phone, he showed her Kouichi's text message. "Kouichi-kun sent us this text message as an apology."

"Sis, they're really here to see if you're doing okay," Kyochi reasoned gently. "If nothing else, hear them out."

"By the way, how is Ami-chan really doing, Kyochi-kun?" Izumi asked, a little concern in her tone of voice as she leaned against her chair closer to him.

Kyochi smiled and said, "A little bit better, if you're curious."

"Really? That's great!"

"Yes, last I've checked, she's starting to get a little color back in her cheeks," Kyochi continued. "However, she's still in her coma. I still don't know how long it'll last but I assure you that she's not getting worse."

Takuya and his friends grinned.

"See? Izumi-chan?" said Junpei. "There's still hope for Ami- yet!"

Suddenly, Kyochi felt a vibration in his pocket and pulled out his own cell-phone. Looking at the caller's ID on the screen, Kyochi frowned in concern. It was from the hospital.

"Excuse me guys while I take this call," Kyochi said. "It seems urgent."

Once Kyochi was out of the room, Izumi nudged Takuya in the back with her elbow.

"What?"

"Go on!" she whispered. "Tell Kimi that we really want to be her friends."

Kimi eyed him suspiciously, and Takuya was starting to think that going first wasn't such a good idea. But he noticed that Izumi was folding her arms and giving him one of her looks. Takuya knew that whenever Izumi looked at him like that, it meant that he doesn't do something, she is going to nag at him more later on. And that was something he wasn't looking forward to. Taking in a deep breath, Takuya put on his "cool-and-relax-guy" expression and lean one arm on the table. Unknown to him, he was actually leaning on the cutting board.

"Listen, I just want you to know that I think we just had a little bit of a misunderstanding yesterday," Takuya said, giving Kimi his best grin to which Takashi fumed furiously in one corner. "So why don't I explain what really ha—"

But before Takuya could finish, Kimi pulled out one of the kitchen knives under the table and pinned the hem of Takuya's sleeve down on the cutting board.

"AH!" Takuya screamed in surprised.

"Holy crap!" cried Junpei while Izumi and Tomoki gasped.

"No you listen!" Kimi said, pulling out another kitchen knife and point it at Takuya's nose. With the other hand, she firmed held onto the handle of the other knife that was pinning down on Takuya's sleeve. "Why don't I explain a few things to you!"

"What the hell?" Takuya yelled.

"Shut up!" Kimi pointed the tip of her knife closer to Takuya's nose and he immediately fell silent. "I just have about enough you and your little friends barging into my life without permission. You may be able to fool my brother but you can't fool me!"

"I-I-I don't know w-what you're t-talking about!" Takuya insisted. But Kimi just took the knife in her hand and used it to pin down Takuya's sleeve but at the elbow. The second knife forced him to lean back against the table more as he squealed like a piglet fright.

"Don't play dumb! You and your friends are only here to convince me that you want to be my friends. Now that you know that I'm part of the Lusterian Crown, you're only here for the perks. You really think a cake is going to be enough to sweeten my mood?"

Before Takuya or his friends could answer, Kimi pulled out another kitchen knife and stabbed Takuya's sleeve at shoulder length, forcing him to bend backward even further. "Well, I got news for you. You may think that you need me, but I _don't_ need you. Get out of my life and if I ever see you again, I am going to do things worse than pinning you down here as you are now! Got it?"

Takuya nodded hesitantly and Kimi instantly pulled the three knives out of his sleeves. After being released, Takuya fell and stumbled under the counter. Izumi gasped and rushed over to him.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "She didn't hurt you, did she?"

"No, just a bit shaken," Takuya whispered.

Furiously, Izumi got up and returned Kimi's cold glare. "What's your problem?" she demanded. "You're crazy, you know that? What's the matter with you? You could have hurt Takuya!"

"Um…I don't want to say this, but you shouldn't have said that, Izumi," Takashi added in nervously.

But Izumi shook her head and pointed a finger accusingly at her. "No, I'm not done here! This snob thinks she's so high and mighty just because she has a title and we don't? She didn't bother to sit down and hear us out before she decides to attack."

"Shut your mouth!" Kimi warn. "You don't know anything about me."

"But I'm trying to, but you won't let me or my friends," Izumi pressured angrily. "What's your problem? Just because our hanging out yesterday turned out terrible, you decided to place the blame on us! That's wasn't fair at all. We took the time to come here hoping to sit down like civilize people with you and explain things. We even hoped that you'll come to your senses and give us another chance. But instead, you attacked Takuya and try to intimidate him and us! You know what you are? You're not even a real princess. You are nothing but a selfish, vindictive, crazy bitch and—"

Before Izumi could finish her ranting, something flew past her right ear and buried itself in the wall behind her. Izumi looked down and noticed that a small strand of her blond here had ben cut off and were on the floor. Hesitantly, she looked behind her and saw a handsomely crafted hand-held knife with its razor sharp edge buried next to a picture frame. It wasn't a kitchen knife, but the kind small enough to be hidden in ones sleeves.

Izumi and the others turned to see Kimi with a dark, cold expression of hate. Flicking her wrist, another tiny knife popped out of her right sleeve and she aimed it at Izumi's face. "I'll say this one more time: Get. Out."

Izumi nodded and was about to back away when they all heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Quickly, Kimi hid her tiny knife, and turned her back against her brother as he came into the kitchen.

"I'm really sorry, but something just came up at the hospital and I have to leave," said Kyochi as he put on his white lab coat. Taking in the scene behind him, he asked in a confused voice, "What happened?"

Kimi said something which sounded like, "Hmph!" and stormed past her brother.

"Sis, you're not eating with them?"

Kimi stopped and turned around. Takuya thought that she was going to attack them again but instead she just grabbed the entire pink box with the German chocolate cake and took it with her into her room. The door slammed and everyone winced.

"No, I'd say she's eating alone just to spite us," Masaki said with disappointment.

Edging over to Takuya and his friends, Takashi whispered to them, "Whatever you do, don't say that you think that Kimi is crazy in front of Kyochi. If you guys think that she's scary with knives, then you should be afraid when Kyochi is scary without them."

Before either Takuya or Izumi could ask him what he meant, Kyochi noticed that Takuya's sleeves were stretched and there was a knife sticking from the wall across the room. He sighed and shook his head.

"What's with your sister, Kyochi?" Takuya asked. "She started to…flash some knives at us!"

"I'm really sorry, but my sister is still upset about what happened yesterday."

"So she decided to take it out on us with flying daggers?" Izumi objected. "She could have hurt Takuya!"

"Did she really land a scratch on you?" Kyochi asked carefully.

"Um…no…not really," Takuya answered, looking down at his arms. It was true. Surprisingly, Kimi's swiftness in knives didn't leave a single mark on his flesh as she was careful to pin down only on his sleeves.

"My sister may be good with…sharp objects," Kyochi continued, choosing his words carefully, "but she would never hurt you. She was only trying to scare you. Didn't Kouji tell you?"

"Wait…Kouji knew about Kimi and her flying daggers?" Takuya opened his mouth in shock. Clenching his teeth, he gestured his hands as if he was strangling Kouji's invisible neck. "That bastard! He could have warned us beforehand!"

Kyochi suddenly remembered something and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I'm really sorry. I guess that's my fault since I asked him and Kouichi not to tell anyone about Kimi's talent."

Before Takuya and Junpei could give Kyochi a piece of their mind, Masaki cleared his throat and said, "Kyochi, didn't you say that you have to go?"

"That's right!" Kyochi exclaimed. Turning to Izumi he explained gently, "Your friend Ami is fine for now, but I have another patient who needs me right now. If you're still willing to convince Kimi of your sincerity to her, her room is right upstairs on the right."

Without another word, Kyochi turned to Takashi and Masaki and nodded as if sending them a telepathic message saying that he trusts them to keep things under control and then he was out the door.

Once they were sure that Kyochi was gone, Izumi angrily placed both hands on her hips and said, "Is he serious? After what Kimi did to us, he really expects us to try again?"

"I didn't take you for the kind who would give up," said Masaki.

"What do you mean by that, huh?" Izumi demanded.

Masaki shrugged and said, "Well, all I know is that you guys were the very first people who ever went all this way just to try and convince Kimi that you really want to be friends with her as well as us. After meeting you several times, I'd thought for sure that you weren't the type who would give up easily."

"But I don't give up!" Izumi insisted.

"Oh, really? Because that's exactly what it looks like you're doing now," Masaki laughed.

"Hey, cut it out Masaki!" Tomoki said. "Izumi cares a lot about other people's feelings and I know her much longer than you. So who are you to judge?"

"All I'm saying is that if she and you guys are really the type who doesn't give up without a fight, you wouldn't be running scared after Kimi flashes a few knives at you," Masaki snickered.

Suddenly, Takashi pulled Masaki aside and whispered, "What are you doing? You don't normally edge people like this, much less someone as cute as Izumi-chan!"

"I'm trying to help them and Kimi," Masaki whispered back. "For both their sakes, I'm going to have to give them both a little nudge in the right direction. And this is the only way to do it." Takashi nodded hesitantly.

"You know what? Masaki's right," Izumi agreed. "I gave up too easily and what kind of friends are we if we don't give it our all?"

"You're right, Izumi-chan," Junpei smiled. "If Kimi still insist that she doesn't want to be friends with us, then that's her problem."

"But no way are we going to let it go until she hears our side of the story first," said Tomoki.

Totally motivated, Takuya punched the palm of his right hand and said, "All right! Let's give it another try and this time, she's not gonna scare us with some flying daggers. Whether Kimi likes it or not, she is going to sit down and let us explain what we really feel and if that doesn't work…"

The others turned to him. "Then what?"

"Then we take back our cake!"

* * *

Upstairs, Kimi lean against her pillow and stared furiously at the German chocolate cake that she placed on the table, untouched. The smell and the visual presentation was tempting but Kimi knew that if she took a bite out of it, it meant that she had accepted those kids' apologies and that was something she wasn't willing to do right now.

Lying on her side, Kimi waited until she could hear the door open and the sound of footsteps leaving. But the only sound that left the door as her brother. Getting up, Kimi carefully opened the door and approached the stairs. Cautiously, she looked down to see Takuya and his friends still there in the kitchen as they plotted their next move.

"You're right, Izumi-chan," said the tallest boy called Junpei as he smiled at Izumi. "If Kimi still insist that she doesn't want to be friends with us, then that's her problem."

"But no way are we going to let it go until she hears our side of the story first," said the youngest boy.

"Urgh!" Kimi growled beneath her breath as she rushed back into her room. "Those nitwits are still not going to leave me alone."

Kimi knew that she only had a few minutes before they come knocking on her door with Takashi and Masaki. "Those two are no help," Kimi decided. Opening the window, Kimi saw a tall tree and looked down the streets. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head as she quickly gathered the lighter bed sheets and tied them around her waist and to one end of her bed.

"Time to ditch this place," Kimi decided as she climbed out the window.

Suddenly, Kimi heard a knock on her door.

"Kimi, open up!" said Masaki. "We know that you're in there!"

"Yeah, Come on out and hear us out, girl!" said Takuya. "We're not leaving until you listen what we have to say!"

"Just hear us out first and I promise you that if you still don't want to be our friends, then we'll leave you alone," Izumi insisted.

"And…also…we want our cake back!" Junpei added.

Izumi shook her and gave Junpei a look. "Are you still thinking about food at this time?"

"Hey, I didn't get a chance to eat at your place this morning, remember?" Junpei reminded her.

"Hey guys, you do know that the door isn't locked, right?" Tomoki pointed out.

Everyone gave each other sheepish looks of embarrassment before opening the door. To their surprise, it was empty.

"Hey, where did she go?" Izumi asked.

They all rushed into her room and saw that the wall opposite to the bed were filled with tiny daggers while the chocolate cake still sat in its box on her table.

"Well, we found the cake," said Junpei. "But where the hell is that girl?"

"Oh, no! Kimi's gone!" Takashi cried. Leaning towards the window, he pulled up the rope-liked bed sheet. "She climbed out the window!"

"Wait, there she is!" Masaki pointed out. Sure enough, a girl was running towards the city in the distance without looking back. "**NO, COME BACK OR YOU'LL GET LOST! KIMI!**"

Takuya groaned and slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Great! Just great! She ran away again!"

As Kimi continued running towards the city, Gali and Kaze sat back in amusement as they both watched the scene unfold in their crystal balls.

"Now things are getting more interesting," said Gali.

_**To be continued…**_

**Author's note: Sorry for the delay these past few months. I've been busy with school work, graduation, my temporary move to Australia for the summer and then there were these series of writer's block which prevented me from finishing this chapter.**

**Hopefully, the next one will be up faster.**

**Yes, I know that I'm taking out Kouji and Kouichi of their own story for now, but don't worry, they'll be back in the next chapter.  
**

**Also, the scene where Kimi pinned down Takuya by the sleeves with the three kitchen knives is a little tribute to one of my most favorite scenes from Disney Pixar's _Ratatouille_ film.  
**


	33. The Kimi Code Part I

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter 32****: The Kimi Code Part I**

"Kouji, what are you doing?" Kouichi asked. After his twin quietly dragged him away from the others, Kouichi was at a loss in what was going on. "What are we doing here? I thought that we were going with Takuya and the others."

"Sorry, Nii-chan," said Kouji, shaking his head apologetically. "But I have more important things to do right now."

"Like what?"

Kouji looked over his shoulders as if afraid of being overheard. Then, taking out the old photo in his pocket, Kouji said in a lowered voice, "I have to find her, Nii-san. If I don't, I am going to go insane. I know it sounds crazy but I have to know what happen to this girl. I have to find out where she is right now."

"It's about your dreams, isn't it?" Kouichi asked. "Kouji, if what you said is true, then all of this is in the past. I know that you like her as more than a friend back then but that was history. Why do you suddenly care to know about her now?"

Kouji thought carefully before answering his twin: "Because she was the only person who understood me."

Kouichi looked at the photo and saw how happy the two children were. Kouichi couldn't help but think that the girl looks a lot like Kimi. However, he reminded himself that it's probably impossible as Kimi is a princess and based from Takashi and Masaki's stories, she would have been living in Lusteria years ago while Kouji was still here in Japan. Not to mention that Kouji's dream told him that this girl's first name ended with the syllable "chi" while Kimi's ended with "mi".

They have to be different people, but it was such a strange coincidence that Chi has some similar features as Kimi and Kyochi. It was as if they were triplets rather than twins.

"What about Kimi?" Kouichi asked. "Aren't you worried about her after what happened yesterday? What if Dusk attacks her again?"

"He won't," said a voice beneath them.

Kouji and Kouichi turned to see Lobo and Löwe coming up to them. Lobo was doing most of the walking while Löwe sat patiently on his friend's back.

"Dusk isn't foolish enough to attack in broad daylight," Lobo repeated. "Vampires like him loath the sunlight as it weakens their dark powers and can kill them."

"Even if today was cloudy, Dusk wouldn't risk attacking the princess, not with too many people around her," Löwe explained. "Discretion is one of Dusk's specialties and he wouldn't risk it now just to get what he wants. If he is still determined, he would have waited patiently until night time as well as for the right opportunity to strike."

Kouichi still felt a little bit skeptical. "So you're saying that we should leave her with the others? I don't know about this…"

"She's in good hands," Löwe reassured his master. "Remember your first encounter with her? She isn't your ordinary helpless, little princess. She's safe for now."

"So what should we do?" Kouichi asked.

Lobo paused for a moment to consider the boy's question before answering. "For now, I believe we should find out what happened to Chi." Glancing at Kouji, Lobo continued, "If there's one thing I've these past few centuries is that you should never ignore a repeating dream."

Löwe nodded in agreement. "Dreams are often used as messages by the cosmic forces in order to tell us vital information."

"So you think Kouji's dreams are trying to tell us something?" Kouichi asked.

"More than that," Lobo answered. "I believe that your dreams are telling you something that has to do with this situation that we're in. We may not know how, but I'm willing to bet that there is a connection between all of you and Dusk with that little girl."

"She may be the key in defeating him for good," Löwe exclaimed. Suddenly, he realized something. "This girl in your dreams, Kouji…" he began, "…she may be one of the people who inherited a portion of the Galis Star!"

"If that's true," Kouichi began slowly, "then that means that we have a new mission."

* * *

After Kimi's escape from her window, Takuya and his friends raced to the front door.

"C'mon, we can still catch her if we hurry," said Takuya as he and his friends struggle to put on their shoes.

"How can one girl give us so much trouble?" Junpei questioned, accidentally knocking Takuya to the side because there wasn't enough space for them at the doorway. "Seriously? Why are we going through all this trouble for her when she clearly ditched us twice?"

"Because I said so!" Izumi snapped, shooting him an annoyed look. "Look, Junpei! We already agreed that we are not giving up on telling her our side of the story and make her see reason. Especially not without a fight. If you wanna give up right now, then you might as well walk out the door like a coward!"

Junpei gave Izumi a hurt look and when he couldn't find any words to object, he complied by putting his shoes on tighter.

Glancing over his shoulders, Tomoki noticed that Takashi and Masaki weren't in a rush with them. "Hey, aren't you guys coming?" he asked. "I mean, Kimi is _your_ friend, isn't she? Why aren't you going after her?"

"We are," Takashi objected. "But knowing Kimi, I'd rather not have her kick me in the shin if I did catch up to her." When Takuya and his friends gave him a weird look, Takashi raised up both of his arms and said, "Hey, if she can pin Takuya down with kitchen knives, she can totally kick your asses if she gets the chance."

"What kind of a princess is she?!" Takuya demanded. "You're telling me that Lusterian royalties have private training in combat?"

Before Takashi could answer him, Masaki jumped in and said, "I do have a way in locating where Kimi is and where she could be heading."

"How?" Junpei asked. "Last I checked, she was heading towards the busy part of Tokyo, the largest city in the world. If we don't catch up to her now, how are we going to find out where she is in such a large place? It's like finding a specific leaf in a forest!"

"We do it with this," said Masaki, pulling out some sort of device from his backpack that looks almost like an iPad but with touch pen. Turning it on, Masaki explained, "I gave Kimi a new iPhone 4 for her birthday a few months ago, but I also did some modification to it before I gave it to her."

"Okay…" Takuya said as if he's following the boy's explanation but has no idea where he was going with it. "So what if she has an iPhone? We all practically have one, too." He pulled out his own iPhone 4 to prove his statement.

"You don't get it," said Takashi. "Masaki's here is really good with technology and gadgets."

"I added a tracer to Kimi's phone," Masaki said simply. He was still dotting and touching the glowing screen of his pad without looking up at the others. "With this device I created, I think I can locate Kim and find out where she is in this city via satellite. If we're lucky that she has her iPhone in her pocket, I might be able to find her. But there is a catch…I have to go online. Give me a second to connect to Kyochi's internet…"

There was a blip and Masaki smiled with satisfaction. "Found her! It' looks like she's heading for some sort of park north of here."

"Great, let's go find her," said Takuya.

"No wait," Izumi interrupted. "If Kimi sees all of us together, she'll just run again. We'll probably need to approach her in a smaller group."

"Izumi's right," said Masaki. "We'll go into groups of two."

"I'm with Izumi!" Takashi said, raising his hand. "If Kimi sees a familiar face like me, she'll cooperate." Turning to Izumi, Akashi said, "Plus, it'll give us a chance to get to know each other better, beautiful."

Izumi rolled her eyes and gave a small laugh. Junpei and Takuya, on the other hand were annoyed with the red-head's flirting and were about to object when Izumi shook her head.

"How about this instead?" Izumi began to propose. "Junpei will go with Tomoki and you stick with Masaki. I'll go with Takuya."

Before Takashi could complain, Masaki said, "Okay, give me all of your iPhones, you guys. I'm going to add in both of mine and Takashi's contact number in case we need to stay in touch."

* * *

The train finally stopped and the announcer called the name of the district. Once the doors slide open, two boys with identical faces quickly stepped off the train followed by an albino German Shepherd that looked more like an arctic wolf and a small black cat.

Once the four of them exited the train station, the younger of the two boys pulled out a small sheet of paper and what appears to be a small map of the area. Taking a quick look around, he gestured his identical companion and the two pets to follow him down a streets.

After turning around a few corners, Kouichi finally asked, "Kouji, where are we?"

Kouji stopped and pointed at a huge house with a green tiled roof and said, "Dad and I used to live there a few years back. This is the old neighborhood that we used to live in around the same time I met Chi."

"So this neighborhood is our first starting point," Lobo clarified.

Kouji nodded. "First, we need to find the place where I first met her. This way."

Kouji took them down several more turns. Kouichi's feet were starting to ache and he began to wonder if they were going in circles. At last, Kouji stopped in front of him when he noticed something. Kouichi turned to look where his brother was gazing and saw a huge space. Based from some of the less than visible paint on the grass, Kouichi could guess that this used to be a baseball field. Now, there was a little shop with a "**CLOSED**" sign hanging in the window.

"This was it," Kouji muttered. He stepped onto the grass field and picked up a dirty and tattered baseball. Most of it was brown and covered in dirt but Kouji didn't notice.

"This was where I first met Chi," Kouji said. "She was passing by here when she was bullied by those older kids."

"If this is the place, then where's the park you told us about?" Löwe asked. "It should be nearby, right?"

Kouji nodded and pointed to his left. "Yeah, I believe it's this way." Once again, he led all of them down the streets.

By the time they finally arrived, Kouji blinked in surprise to see how much it has changed. Unlike the baseball field, the park was still there but the old swing sets and the jungle gyms were gone, replaced by new ones. Several mothers were sitting at the park benches while their children chased each other on the playset.

Seeing his brother standing so still, Kouichi placed one hand on his brother's shoulder and asked, "Kouji, what's wrong? Is this the right park?"

Kouji didn't answer him. Ignoring the children playing in front of him, Kouji looked around and walked towards a bush and a tree behind a statue of a penguin. Placing his hand against it, Kouji sighed to himself.

"At least these are still here," he muttered beneath his breath.

"Do you feel anything?" Lobo asked under his breath.

Kouji looked down and gave the white dog a small smile. "Nothing much," he said. "It's just that one of my recent dreams showed me this exact same tree and bushes." When Lobo gave him a confused look, Kouji snickered and said, "Before you ask, I only remember this spot as a hiding place between her and me back then."

"Did your dream showed you what you or her were hiding?" Lobo asked.

Kouji nodded. "A sparrow."

"A sparrow?" Löwe asked, confused.

"Yeah, apparently Chi found it and decided to take care of it back then. She showed it to me and we hid it in this bush where it would have been safe while we were playing."

"And what happened after that?"

Sighing, Kouji shook his head. "I'm not sure. I remember taking it to the vet with her in secret."

Lobo and Löwe looked at each other.

"So now our next clue is to look for this vet place," Kouichi said.

Kouji nodded. "I can't remember where that place is anymore. All I know is that it was somewhere in this district."

Suddenly, a rubber blue ball rolled up at their feet. Kouichi picked it up and turned to see a toddler clapping his hand for it while sitting in his mother's lap from across the park. "Let's find out, shall we?" he said.

They all walked towards the woman with the toddler and Kouichi gave her the ball back.

"Arigato," said the mother as her toddler squealed with delight as her ball was returned.

Kouichi smiled back and said, "Excuse me, but we're looking for a vet. Our pets need medical check-up. Do you know if there is one nearby?"

* * *

For the second time in a row, Kimi is running away from Takuya and his friends. At first, she was heading towards the park where they all met yesterday but then she stopped. The park is too predictable. If they found her there yesterday after the earthquake, then they'll find her again today. Plus, Kimi had a strange feeling that whatever happened to her yesterday wasn't something pleasant and thinking about it was making her skin crawl.

Kimi reached into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out an iPhone 4 that Masaki gave to her for her 15th birthday a few months earlier. It's been a while since she last used it, but she had to admit to herself that it'll come in handy. Like getting directions around this damn city. First of all, the park is out of the question…so she'll have to go somewhere where they'll least expects her to go. But it also has to be somewhere full of people where she can blend in easily. Suddenly, the shopping district came to her mind.

Using her hands, Kimi slide her fingers over the screen and drew the device closer to her lips. "Where is the nearest shopping district from here?"

The iPhone gave two clicks before a female voice replied, **"I FOUND TWO SHOPPING DISTRICTS CLOSEST TO YOUR CURRENT LOCATION."**

Kimi selected the top one without a thought and it showed her the direction to get there. Smiling, she turned left and headed towards her new direction.

* * *

"Okay, Masaki said she was heading here, but I don't see her anywhere," said Takuya.

Izumi scanned the park with one hand shading her green eyes from the sun. "Keep looking," she said. "This is a huge park. She could still be around here somewhere."

"Let's try calling Masaki again," Takuya suggested. Taking out his iPhone, Takuya only heard it rang once before Masaki's voice was on the line.

"Takuya, I was just about to call you guys," said Masaki on the other end of the line. "Kimi's direction just changed. She's not in the park anymore."

"Don't tell me that she saw us," said Takuya.

"No, I'm guessing she probably realized that that's the park where we met up yesterday and decided to avoid it," Masaki replied, switching his phone to speaker. With his hands now free, Masaki continue to scan through his pad's screen. The screen produced a digital map of the entire city. So far, he traced Takuya's and Izumi's position at the south end of the park via the signal coming from their phones while Junpei's and Tomoki's were at the east end. Takashi was sitting next to him with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

"So now where is she?" Izumi asked.

"Um…it looks like she's heading for the shopping district in Shibuya," said Masaki.

"Okay, so she decided to go shopping again," Takuya shrugged. Placing the iPhone away in his pocket, Takuya turned to Izumi and said, "C'mon, let's get moving. Since you know the shops there more than I do, you might spot Kimi better than I could."

Izumi turned to look at the direction of her family restaurant and said, "Um…why don't you go on ahead, Takuya. I'll catch up to you later."

Takuya gave her a look of disbelief and was about to object when Izumi cut him off.

"It's my cousin, Rosalina, remember?" Izumi said. "She's covering for me back at the restaurant. I have to drop in for a little bit to check up on her." Izumi felt a little guilty for saying it, because after what happened that morning, causing more frustration and grief for her friend was the last thing that she wanted to do. Izumi held her breath quietly and hoped that Takuya would understand.

Takuya sighed because Izumi's sudden decision to leave was just another leave of surprise like Kimi, Kyochi, and the twins today. "Fine, meet me in front of that photo-shooting place you've always talked about in an hour."

Izumi smiled and let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, I promise I'll be back." And with that, she sprinted for the restaurant.

* * *

"One order risotto, two lobsters, and four scallops for table twenty-four!" Romano Orimoto cried as he speed read the ticket order.

"Risotto going in!" cried one chef at the appetizer station.

"Firing two lobsters, Chef!" said another chef to Romano.

"We're almost out of scallops, Chef!" said the third chef on the fish station.

Romano sighed and said, "Izumi, where are those scallops you've been shucking for the past half an hour?"

His daughter didn't answer and Romano was about to come over to her station when she slammed two more plates of uncooked scallops at the fish station. Romano shook his head and wondered if placing his daughter in kitchen duty was a bad idea for her punishment. The last thing he needed was to have another kitchen accident.

"She's still not talking to us?" said Teresa.

Romano turned to look at his wife and shook his head. Sometimes he hated this part of his job as a father and a husband. "No, she's still furious at from this morning. When she said that she's never talking to us again, she's definitely trying to keep her word."

Teresa nodded sadly. She had hoped that what she was doing was the right thing, but her rebellious daughter doesn't agree and is taking out her full frustration on not just her and her husband but on the rest of the kitchen staff as well.

"Do you think we should have left her go off with her friends?" Romano asked.

Teresa hesitated before answering, "N-no! That Kanbara boy has brought nothing but trouble to this restaurant. It's best that we keep Izumi away from him and the others for now until things calm down. The last thing our spoiled daughter needs is for us to bend to her demand."

"Even if it means dealing with her sour attitude for weeks?" Romano asked.

Teresa didn't answer that question but instead asked one of her own. "Romano, where is Rosalina?"

"She said that she was upstairs sleeping off from het jet lag," her husband replied. The he frowned. "Come to think of it, when she told us that, she doesn't sound tired at all."

"I'm sure she's just resting rather than sleeping," said Teresa. "Why don't I go check up on her right now?"

"Good idea," said Romano, picking up a plate of fresh lasagna and gave it to his wife. "Here," he offered, "give her some lunch to eat. You know how airplane food taste during a long flight."

Just when Teresa was about to take the plate, Rosalina immediately ran to grab it out of her uncle's hand and raced upstairs to Izumi's room. Surprised and furious, Teresa ran after her, thinking that the girl who had been shucking scallops was still her daughter and not her niece in disguise.

"Izumi, what do you think you're doing?" Teresa cried. She knocked on the door but it didn't open.

Pressing her right ear against the door, Teresa heard some shuffling sound and a muffled voice before Rosalina opened it and gave her a surprised smile.

"Zia Teresa," she said. "Is there something wrong?"

Teresa sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Rosalina, did I wake you?"

"Um…no, I wasn't sleeping. I was just reading some magazine," Rosalina lied.

"Is Izumi in there, I would like to talk to her about her behavior," Teresa pressed the door but Rosalina held it firm in order to prevent her from coming in.

"Um…yeah, Izumi just came in with lunch, but she said that she's still not talking to you and Uncle," Rosalina winced. "If you want, I could talk to her and try to get her to come downstairs again. I guess she wants to have lunch with me."

Teresa sighed. "Izumi, I expect you to be downstairs in ten minutes. You're still not leaving this restaurant, young lady!"

There was no answer but Rosalina tilted her head back towards her room. From the expression on her face, Teresa guessed that Izumi was trying to signal and gesture to her niece and to tell her own mother to get lost.

"Yeah, I think Izumi's trying to say that she'll be downstairs so hold your horses," said Rosalina. "I'm just quote what she's gesturing, Auntie."

"Fine," Teresa sighed and left. By the time she got downstairs, she remembered that her niece's hands smelled strongly of rancid fishy scallops and decided that it must have been from coming into contact with Izumi's hands.

Once Teresa was gone, Rosalina closed the door and sighed to herself. Staring at the plate of lasagna, she quickly dove right in and thought, _Izumi, you better get back here! I don't know how long I can keep fooling them._

"Does it taste nice?" said a voice behind her.

Rosalina jumped and laughed when she saw her cousin standing behind her.

"Finally, you're back!" Rosalina said between mouthfuls. Swallowing her last bite, she wiped her mouth and said, "Do you have any idea how suspicious your parents are right now?"

"Relax, I came back for now, right?" Izumi said. "I did promise that I'll drop by every few hours to stop them from suspecting us."

"So how did your mission go?" Rosalina asked.

"Awful!" Izumi replied.

Rosalina winced. "Ouch. So where's that cute brown-hair boy?"

"Takuya? He's waiting for me in Shinjuku," Izumi said.

"So while you're shopping and hanging out in Shinjuku, I'm stuck here shucking clams and scallops," Rosalina stated, rolling her eyes humorously. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm being used?"

"Please, Rosalina, something happened and now Takuya and I and the others are looking for this girl," Izumi pleaded. "I promise that I'll make it up to you somehow."

"Hey, so long as you don't tell your parents that I ran away myself, we're even," Rosalina laughed. "C'mon let's switch clothes again and put on another act for your parents."

* * *

Kimi finally slowed to a walk after running for a mile and a half and finally ended up in the shopping and fashion section of Shinjuku. After running for a while, she began to pant and realized how hungry she was.

"Urgh, I guess I should have eaten Kyochi's breakfast this morning," she said to herself.

Suddenly, a sweet and tasty aroma hit her and Kimi turned to see a small cart selling food. The delicious smells beckons and Kimi found herself running towards it. It small food cart stand was selling what appeared to be grilled meat and vegetable shish kabobs and the vendor was a plump middle-age old woman counting changes.

When she noticed Kimi standing there, she said, "What'll be?"

Kimi couldn't help and grabbed one as her stomach grumbled. "I'll take one of everything, please."

Pleased with the order, the vendor cheerfully said, "That'll be one thousand, one hundred and seventy-eight yens."

Kimi was about to reach into her pocket when she realized that she had no Japanese currency on her. "Um…I…don't…have any money?" she said sheepishly.

Furious that she wasn't getting any profit from this girl, the vendor snatched the shish kabob from her. "Then what good are you to me?!" she spat.

Disappointed, Kimi strolled off. "There has got to be some place for me to eat without paying."

Kimi immediately thought of Takashi's house or even Masaki's as their family would love to welcome her as a guest, but then if she goes there, then Takuya and his friends would find out where she is. In truth, Kimi never really needed money as she always had other people taking care of her. Every day of her life was of people attending to her every need from morning to night. While she had been craving for her own independence, Kimi still needed some time getting used to how the world outside her palace works.

Strolling across the streets, Kimi paused and looked up to see giant posters of a fashion model. The labels stated that her name was Rumiko Makino and that she was modeling for some sort of fashion industry. When Kimi saw the name, she scoffed.

"Huh, not as good as Terrwyn's designs," she whispered to herself.

Placing both hands on her hips, Kimi took a look at herself in a reflective glass next to the posters. One of the things that she loved about Takashi's mother's custom clothes for is the fact that they made her blend in with the regular public while staying unique to herself. In truth, she usually detested royal tailor's designs for her family because they just seemed so stereotypical. Being different and unique was what she liked best.

Staring back at the poster, Kimi began to wonder what it would be like for her to be a model. Sure, the attentions from the public is just as big if not bigger, but Kimi preferred getting attention for something that you work hard for, not something of royal lineage.

Kimi was just about to continue down the street when the door of a photo shooting building opened in front of her. An angry fashion model stomped out and pushed Kimi out of her path.

"Out of my way!" she screamed.

Furious, Kimi was just about to grab the girl's wrist and throw her with a judo move that her maternal grandfather taught her when suddenly a man came out of the building.

"Koko-chan! Wait!" he cried. "We can work this out! Just come back to the shoot."

"I told you, I quit!" Koko snapped, turning around the face the man. "You were supposed to be my agent, but you're always ignoring me! It's always, always, always about Rumiko-san. You always give my slot to her!"

"Honey, I promised that I'll change!" Koko's agent cried.

"NO! I have enough of your false promises," Koko said, knocking his hands away from her. "You promised me a photo shot for the teen magazine, but you just gave my slot to Rumiko-san's daughter. That little Ruki brat doesn't know anything about the fashion world. She's a tomboy for God's sake!"

"But Rumiko's an old friend and I was only doing her a few favors and—"

"Shut up! No more excuses," Koko screamed. She tore off her hat and glittering hair pins and shoved them at her agent. "Read my lips, you're fired and I quit!"

Kimi and the distraught agent watched as Koko stormed off. "Looks like she won't be getting a new contract anytime soon," Kimi said to no one in particular.

"Yeah, you can say that again," said a new voice behind her.

Kimi turned around a saw a girl her age wearing a ridiculously frilly pink dress and a hat. Her hair was somewhat streaked and her face shows how uncomfortable she was wearing the stupid attire. Kimi felt a little sympathy for her.

"Nice dress," Kimi said sarcastically.

The girl scowled. "Shut up."

Kimi smirked and said, "What's the matter? Rough time in that tent of a dress? Seems to me, you're itching to bolt out of here like her."

"Wow, so you're psychic, too?" the girl stated coldly.

"I don't have to be to see that you're being forced to do something you don't like."

"What do you know?" the girl snapped. "You know nothing about me."

"And you know nothing about me either."

Before their discussion was about to get more heated, a woman and a man came out of the building. The woman looked familiar and Kimi realized that she was the same model on the posters; Rumiko Makino.

The older woman spotted the fiery-headed girl and frowned, "Ruki-chan, what are you doing out here? I thought I told you to wait inside."

The girl, whose name is apparently Ruki, scorned. "And I thought I told you that I don't want to do this stupid photo shoot, Mom."

"Ruki, is that any way to behave?" said her mother. "You'll never know unless you try. Now you march right back in there and wait for me."

"Whatever," said Ruki with a hint of dread.

"And who's this?" Rumiko asked.

Ruki turned to see her mother eyeing Kimi. "Don't know and don't care," she began.

"My gosh, darling," said the man next to Rumiko. "Where did you get those clothes? They are simply marvelous!"

"From Terrwyn Atsuko," Kimi replied plainly. "Now will you excuse me, I'd better be leaving—"

"Did you say Terrwyn Atsuko?" Rumiko exclaimed surprisingly. "The famous fashion designer?!"

"That explains it," said the man next to her excitedly. He walked up to Kimi and examined the fabric of her top and her gold necklace. "Only she could design something as lovely as this."

"Hey, hands off!" Kimi knocked his arms off and glared at him.

Ignoring her aggressive behavior, the man continued to smile. "But I am curious, this dress hasn't been released in the market yet, so how did you get it?"

"She designed it for me, alright?" Kimi replied, getting a little bit annoyed. "Now will you stop bugging me?"

"Atsuko-sama designed just for you?" he exclaimed, getting more excited. "Well, isn't that fabulous? If it is custom designed then you clearly know a thing or two about fashion."

"I know, why don't we have the two of you together for the photo shoot?" Rumiko suggested.

Kimi and Ruki gave each other surprised looks. "What?!"

"That is a marvelous idea, Rumiko-chan!" said the man, clapping his hands together like a giddy little girl. "Oh, it will just be fabulous with two beautiful girls as stars posing for the camera. The magazine publisher will just love it!"

"But…" both girls were about to object but the man interrupted them.

"I'm Rumiko's agent, and what's your name, dear?"

"Kimi Watsuki, but I don't think—" Kimi began but was, once again, cut short.

"Well, Kimi-chan," he cheered. "Today you and Ruki-chan are going to be stars!"

And the next thing Kimi and Ruki knew, both Rumiko and her agent pushed them passed the doors and into the changing room for the photos shoot.

**Author's note: Another crossover but this time with Ruki from Digimon Tamers. Part of this chapter was inspired from the episode where Ruki was forced to wear a frilly dress at a photo shoot where her super-model mom hoped to get her to be more girly. I always wondered what she and Kimi would do in each others' company as they do share similar personalities.**

**Note: This story will be going on hiatus for now because I need to figure out how this story is going to end, plus, my life is about to get really busy since I'm going to start on my Master's Program at the university. This means that I'll have less time to work on this story. But rest assure that it will get done sooner or later.  
**


	34. The Kimi Code Part II

**Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.**

**Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence**

**Bloody Nightmares**

**Chapter 33: The Kimi Code Part II**

"Why if it's isn't little Kouji-kun. Oh, perhaps I shouldn't say _little_ anymore," said the old vet when he saw Kouji and Kouichi in his waiting room. "It's been years since I've last seen you around these parts of town. How have you been, my boy?"

"Fine, sensei," said Kouji. "This is Kouichi, my brother."

"What's that? Brother?" the old man squinted through his glasses for a better look. "My, you certainly look the same…by God! You'd never mentioned that you have a twin, Koji-kun."

"It's a long story, sir," Kouichi replied sheepishly.

The old vet laughed and shook the boy's hand. "I'm Dr. Joseph Sato. So what can I do for you? Are you here for a check-up for your pets? Or would you like to have your dog neutered?" Lobo's ears bent and he instantly recoiled.

"No, I'm here to ask you something private," said Kouji.

Dr. Sato stroke his white beard and nodded. His office was empty for now and since he doesn't have another appointment for the day, he gestured them into this office.

Once inside, Dr. Sato sat down and said, "So what is it that you are here for, my boy?"

Kouji took out the photo of him and Chi and gave it to the old vet. Dr. Sato sighed from old age as he adjusted his glasses to see the photo better.

"Ah, I remember her," he smiled. "She used to come in here with you when the two of you wanted me to fix your little sparrow."

"Really?" Kouji asked, trying his best not to show his excitement, although it was getting obvious. "Do you remember her name?"

"I think her grandparents called her _Kimchi_," said the old vet. Kouji gave him a blank look while his brother tried his best to smother his sudden burst of laughter. If Dr. Sato noticed, he didn't say anything. "I believe the reason was because she absolutely love that dish. After all, her grandmother made the best dish of kimchi around this neighborhood. Whenever her grandchild visits, she would make them."

"Do you know where she lives?" Kouji asked hopefully. "Does…Kimchi…still lives around here?"

"In truth, I haven't seen her since she was eleven years old," Dr. Sato said, shaking his head. "She stopped coming here for years. But if you still want to know her whereabouts, you could ask her grandparents themselves."

"Her grandparents?"

"Yes, the Tairas," said the vet. "They live down the road about a block from here. Taira-san still visit me whenever her cat needs a check-up. You can ask her and husband where their granddaughter is."

* * *

"That was more than an hour," said Takuya when Izumi ran up to him at their meeting place. "I was about to leave and join the others in the Kimi Code Chase without you."

"Sorry, but my parents aren't taking their eyes off of me," said Izumi. "I had to come up with another excuse to go up to my room and switch with Rosalina again and…wait, what did you just say?" Izumi blinked.

"The Kimi Code," said Takuya. "Yeah, Masaki came up with it while you were gone. He called it Operation: Kimi Code. At least it's better than what Takashi came up with." Takuya snickered as he thought about it.

"What did red-head boy wanted to call this operation, Mr. Goggle-head?" Izumi laughed and crossed her arms.

"Operation: Save My Sweetheart!"

They both burst into laughing fits.

"Are you serious?" Izumi asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Takuya laughed. He was later interrupted by a phone ring. "Hello?" he said.

"Takuya," said Masaki's voice. "I've found Kimi again. It looks like her signal is coming from a local fashion district of Shinjuku. Junpei and Tomoki have already started searching the north side. If Izumi's back, tell her that you two should check the other side."

"Right, thanks for the update, buddy," Takuya replied. Turning to his blond friend, he smiled. "So, ready to go to your favorite district?"

"Only if we get to go window shopping, too!" Izumi giggled.

"Not a chance."

* * *

"Not a chance!" Kimi scowled, standing her ground. "I refuse to go through this."

"Darling, don't be silly!" the fashion designer insisted. "All girls your age love to be stars. You'll both be on the cover of our latest magazine and every girl in this city will envy you. They'll want to be you!"

"You have no right to address me in such an informal manner!" Kimi retorted. "Nor do you have any right to force me to wear your ridiculous clothing line against my will." Glancing over at Ruki, she added, "Or her, for all that matter."

Ruki secretly smiled to herself. She hates to admit it, but she took this new girl with the long, wavy blue hair wrong. This Kimi really can see through all this pathetic sissy show her mother is forcing her into. _I wonder if she can convince my mom to see that this is a lost cause._

"For your information, little lady," the young designer scoffed. "I am a highly respectable fashion designer and I demand to be treated as such!"

"Yeah? Well for _your_ information, I don't respect anyone who forces girls like me or that Ruki girl into wearing the types of clothes _you_ and _your kind_ prefers," Kimi retorted and Ruki laughed. "You adults are all the same. You think you can force your sense of style and what you think would befit girls our age onto us. We never asked for this so stay out of it!"

"Why you ungrateful, bratty, little—"

"Touch me and I shall introduce you into a world of hurt," Kimi warned cooly.

**"THAT'S ENOUGH!"** a new voice bellowed. All three heads turned to see a young man with blue eyes and silver hair standing with arms folded.

"Riku-san!" said the young designer.

"Himawari, why don't you take the day off?" the man named Ruki suggested, pointing out the door. "I'll handle them."

"Riku, you have no idea what these two girls are like!" Himawari insisted, glaring at Kimi the most and she did not bother to acknowledge her in return. "They have no sense of respect, manner, nor do they have any proper knowledge of the essence of being a fashionable girl in this blasted city."

"Himawari, I know that you're stressing out right now and I _insist_ that you take the day off."

The woman sighed with frustration and nodded. Once she left the building, Riku turned back his attention on them.

"Don't even think about it, Riku-kun," Ruki began. "I don't care if you are in charge here. You can't make us wear those ridiculous frilly dresses!"

"If you as so much put me in those clothes, I will swear to make your life into a living hell," Kimi warned.

"I wouldn't dream of doing so, princess," Riku smirked. Kimi froze when she heard him addressing her as _princess_. For a moment, she thought, _How could he have known?_ But then she thought better. _No, he couldn't have known about me being the Princess of Lusteria. _It was just another nickname like the one Kouji gave her.

"What do you mean? Explain yourself," Kimi asked.

"Real fashion isn't about wearing what everyone else is wearing," he said. He went over to the racks and began to file through the dresses and clothing line. "True fashion is about wearing what makes you comfortable. It's about showing the world your sense of style in your own way and inspiring others. And trust me, you two ladies are anything but the fru-fru and frilly kinds that Ruki's mother and Himawari think you are."

Both girls exchanged looks of confusion, unsure of what they were hearing. It was as if heaven have decided to bless them by sending in someone who finally understood them in terms of attires. "What are you suggesting?" Kimi asked cautiously.

Riku chuckled and handed her a new outfit he picked from the rack. She looked down at it and seeing nothing girlish about it, she smiled. "I'd thought you might like it. For some reason, you strike me as the European type…either French or Lusterian?"

Kimi nodded. Riku went back to the rack and finally found something and gave it to Ruki. "And as for the tomboy, I'm sure you would be more comfortable in these rather than that silly dress you're wearing."

"Thank you for putting me out of my misery," Ruki laughed and Kimi couldn't help but giggled.

"Well, now that you're both satisfied with my choices, I'll leave you ladies alone to change," Riku said as he headed for the door. "I'll see you in front of the cameras later."

Left alone in the changing room, Ruki quickly got out of her frilly dress.

"You're really going along with this photo shoot?" Kimi asked. "I'd thought you would hate it."

"I do hate it," Ruki replied, putting on the Capri-jeans, metal-chained boots, and red top that says _Whatcha looking at, punk?_ "But this time I get to be myself in front of the camera instead of the girly-girl that my mom's trying to force on me."

"You'd love to make her miserable?" Kimi asked.

"Not really, I just want to make a point to her that if she really wants me in front of the camera like her, then she can't expect me to do it the way she wants it," Ruki stated. "She has to know that _this_," she gestured to herself now wearing the tomboyish outfit, "is who I am, and not that sweet, cute little girl in a frilly dress!"

"I envy you, Ruki," Kimi sighed.

"Oh, really?" Interested, Ruki's eyebrow perked up. "How so? You think having a mom who expects you to be girly and a super star model like her is lucky?"

"Trust me, if you were in my shoe, you would consider your current life luckier," Kimi explained. "Let's just say that my dad's really important in politics, and being his daughter, everyone is always scrutinizing me every single day. They expect too much from me."

"You mean you can't wear what you want all of the time? Or go anywhere you please?"

"No and especially not without bodyguards," Kimi seethed through her teeth.

"Don't you have any friends?" Ruki asked, thinking of hers including Takato, Ryo, and the others.

"When you're the daughter of a du—I mean a politician," Kimi stopped herself, almost saying _duke_, "you don't have any close friends. I only have my brother, but he's too busy working. He doesn't have a lot of time for me. All the other kids are just using me, I know it!" Thinking of Takuya and his friends, Kimi threw the outfit onto the ground furiously. "A few of them tried to get close to me for their own gain these past few days. They don't want to be my friends at all, only the benefit of being seen with me because of my father's position! That's why I ran away!"

"So that's why you were standing in front of this studio?"

"Yes, I was trying to get rid of them," Kimi sighed. Suddenly, she shot Ruki a weary glare.

At first Ruki wasn't sure what this girl's problem was, but then laughed. "What? You think I would be so shallow as those fake-friends of yours? Forget it, I couldn't care less if you were the Princess of Lusteria herself!"

Kimi gave her a confused look, not even sure where this was going. She glanced at the door and Ruki followed her gaze.

"Girl, if you want to leave, be my guest because I won't stop you," Ruki said. "But if you're trying to ditch your bodyguards and all of those people who are driving you crazy, you can take a chance to blend in as a model with me by putting on that outfit."

Ruki picked up the outfit and gave it to Kimi. "Trust me, Kimi. I think I know what it's like to try and run away to find peace of mind. And it took me awhile to realize who my _real_ friends are. I don't care who you are, but I think you got spunk and attitude and I like that. So, you wanna go out there and model with me like the bad girls we are?"

Kimi didn't know what to say but she recognized this tomboy's genuine gesture of kindness and she like it. Kimi laughed and accepted the outfit.

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Kouichi asked.

"I told you, Nii-san," Kouji nodded. "I'm determined to find out where Kimchi is or else my dreams will continue to haunt me."

"It looked like this is the place," Lobo said, glancing at the huge Japanese style mansion in front of them. "I can sense an air of tranquility here."

"A very nice change in mood after all that's been happening to us," Lowe noted.

Kouji ignored them and rang the doorbell and a female voice rang in through the inter-com a few seconds later. "Hello, who is this?"

"My name is Kouji Minamoto and this is my brother, Kouichi Kimura," Kouji replied. "We're here to see the Tairas. I must speak to them about something important."

The voice paused for a moment before replying, "Lord Taira isn't here today, but his wife and I are. You may come in through the gate and join us for tea."

The estate was huge and beautiful in a serene way. The manor may not be as large as Clairebourne Manor, but it was certainly bigger than the twins' father's home. Based on the design of the house and the breathtaking zen-garden, the two brothers and their Guardians could only assumed that whoever lives here love the traditional culture of Japan.

Finally, they all arrived at the front door and saw an elderly woman trimming a small bonsai. She looked up at them in surprised, "Oh, company?"

"_Hai_, Taira-dono," the older twin bowed respectfully. "I am Kouichi Kimura and this is my brother, Kouji Minamoto."

The elderly woman smiled. "I am Kohane Taira. It is lovely to have guests around here. My husband and I do get lonely here at times since we don't get to see our grandchildren that often."

"Apologies for disturbing you, but my brother is here to ask you some questions about someone."

"Of course, I'll be happy to help you," said Mrs. Taira.

Kouji took out the photo and handed to her. "Do you know this girl?"

Mrs. Taira took the photo gently and squinted at it through her old eyes. She gasped, "Oh, my. It's my little Kimchi-chan. My dear boy, where did you get this picture?"

"I'm the boy in that photo with her," Kouji replied. "I'm looking for her."

Before the elderly woman could reply, the door opened and a young, teenage girl's voice spoke from behind them.

"I think I can help you," she said. "Why don't we invite them in, Grandma?"

Kouichi and Kouji stared at her in surprise for the girl was around their age and she looked almost like the girl in the photo but older and more tomboyish.

"Kimchi?" Kouji asked.

* * *

"I'm telling you, the signal is coming from that direction," Masaki insisted on Takuya's iPhone.

"Masaki, we don't see her," Takuya complained.

Izumi continued to scan the area, but it was quite difficult in the shopping district since there were millions of people. "It's like finding a single leaf in a forest full of them!"

"Don't worry, according to my scans, Kimi is currently in front of you only twenty-five meters away," Masaki said. He guided them towards a building that appeared to be part of a fashion magazine company. "Right there! Now my scanners say that she's only a few feet to your right."

"We don't see her, Masaki," Izumi said, grabbing Takuya's phone. "The only people here are shoppers and photographers."

"You don't think she's inside this building, do you?" Takuya asked. He was looking at the giant photo of Ruki's mother and realized that they were at a photo shooting studio.

* * *

"We'll, I have to admit, that was fun," Ruki said with satisfaction. Thanks to Kimi's idea, both girls weren't wearing frilly, sissy, dresses. Much to her mother's displeasure, Ruki felt more comfortable in front of the camera and she and Kimi tried to promote the "tomboy" styles with their sense of fashion. "Well, not much the photo shooting part," Ruki stated when she noticed Kimi giving her a smirk, "but I do enjoy making my mom crazy by not going with her idea of being _fashionable _girls."

Kimi wasn't listening to her. Something suddenly caught her attention at the corner of her right eye. She turned towards the window to the outside and saw…Takuya and Izumi.

"Damn it!" she swore.

"Hey, what is it?" Ruki asked.

"Sorry, but I have to leave immediately," Kimi replied. "Is there a back door?"

"Takuya, only models and photographers are allowed in," Izumi noted, shaking her head. "If you wanna get in, you have to have a special pass as a guest. There's no way she's in there."

"Yeah, well according to Masaki-kun," Takuya smirked. "The signal coming from Kimi's iPhone says that she's in here somehow."

"Fine, we'll go in and ask and then you'll see that I'm right," Izumi shrugged.

They both walked into the building and were greeted by a receptionist. The woman seemed to be bored out of her mind because she was paying too much attention on texting to her friends.

"Excuse me?" Izumi said.

"Hello, and welcome, honorable guests," replied the receptionist. "Are you the two o' clocks?"

"Excuse me?" Izumi asked, confused.

"It says here on my list that there are going to be two teenagers for the two o' clock appointment for the photo shoot. You're both here for that, right?"

"Oh, sorry, no," Takuya replied. "We didn't make an appointment."

"If you have no business here then please leave the building," the receptionist replied rudely.

"Look, we're just here looking for our friend," Izumi explained, trying not to pay attention to the woman's rudeness. "Her name's Kimi Watsuki. She's a girl about our age with long blue, wavy hair and blue eyes—"

"And with a snobbish attitude, right?" the woman finished Izumi's sentence before she could finish while still texting.

"No way! She's really here?!"

"Ha, told ya so!" Takuya gloated, but Izumi decided to ignore him.

"Yeah, she's somewhere in the back."

"C'mon, let's go!" Izumi cried and pulled Takuya behind her.

They both passed through doubled-doors and came upon a tall man. His name tag said "Riku" and he looked down at them with a pair of combs in one hand.

"Can I help you?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, um…we're looking for our friend, a girl named Kimi about this yay high," Takuya gestured, holding up a hand to symbolize whatever he was talking about. "She's around our age with blue eyes, dark blue wavy hair, and kinda hot looking—"

"Ahem!" Izumi cleared her throat. Takuya laughed sheepishly, feeling embarrassed.

"What my friend is trying to say is, a friend of ours came through here. Have you seen her?" Izumi explained.

"In the back," Riku rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "But I don't think you should—HEY!"

Takuya and Izumi took their chance and ran for the door into the dressing room. Instead of finding Kimi, they found another angry girl with brown hair in a punk-ish outfit consisted of jeans and a leather jacket with chains.

"So where is she?" Izumi asked.

"Don't tell me she ditched us again," Takuya complained.

"If you two are done bickering like a married couple, I suggest you get out or I will throw you across the room," Ruki sneered, folding her arms in annoyance.

Before Izumi could retort to her rude comment, she noticed the back door swinging slightly. She ran to open it and noticed a figure with dark wavy hair turning a corner at the street.

"She's gone!" Izumi cried.

"Oh, not again!" Takuya shook his head. "How the hell did she know we were coming?"

"It doesn't matter, let's just keep going!" Izumi insisted, dragging Takuya out of the back door and leaving Ruki alone in the dressing room.

Riku opened the door and looked around. "What happened to all of your friends?" he asked.

Ruki shook her head and shrugged. "Beats me."

**Author's Note: It's been over a year since I've last updated this story. Sorry, but my life has been going around a turn lately. Not only that, but I've found myself unmotivated to continue this story. With no more Digimon seasons, I haven't been compelled to draw or write anything Digimon related. So this will be the last full chapter. However, this doesn't mean that I'm stopping. I'd hate to leave you all hanging so in the next chapter, I will write a full synopsis telling what will happened to the characters for the rest of this story. This way, you'll know what will happen and I can finally bring this fan fic to an end.**


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